INTERNATIONAL BLACK SEA UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND HUMANITIES

Doctoral Program in Education Sciences

Strategies-Based Syllabus and Materials Design for Teaching English for

Specific Purposes (ESP) Vocabulary to University Students Majoring in

Agriculture

Tamar Tskhvitava

Doctoral dissertation in Education Sciences

Tbilisi, 2017

Scientific Supervisor: Lamara Kadagidze

Professor, Doctor, at Grigol Robakidze University

I confirm that the work corresponds to the field, is characterized by novelty, scientific and

practical value and is presented by the format defined by International Black Sea University.

_____________________________________________

(supervisor’s signature)

Experts (full name & academic title):

1. Natela Doghonadze Professor, Doctor ____________________________________

2. Lia Todua Assoc. Professor, Doctor_______________________________

Opponents (full name & academic title):

1. Marina Zoranyan Assoc. Professor, Doctor_______________________________

2. Ira Danelia Assoc. Professor, Doctor_______________________________

3. Prof., Dr. Jan Boehm Professor, Doctor

I acknowledge that this is my own work which is presented in the format defined by the

International Black Sea University

_____________________________________________

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A B S T R A C T

The English for Specific Purposes (ESP) movement originated from the massive expansion of

scientific, technical, and economic activities on an international scale in the 1950s and 1960s.

Although since the 1990s much has been practically done in Georgia concerning the development of

teaching ESP, insufficient research has been carried out on the efficiency of the teaching, especially

related to vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs).

The dissertation clarifies the definition of the term “vocabulary learning strategies” and suggests

such a typology for them effective for ESP teaching. It analyzes and systematizes the existing

literature on the issue of strategies-based syllabus and materials design for teaching ESP vocabulary

to university students in general and those who major in agriculture in particular. A strategy-based

syllabus for teaching English for agriculture with a special emphasis on vocabulary teaching / learning

has been developed representing adequate learning materials and activities. It also finds out the state

of ESP (for agriculture) vocabulary teaching and learning in Georgia, and, based on it, defines the

directions of improvement. Finally, the study held within the dissertation has applied the developed

syllabus and materials in experimental teaching in order to find out their efficiency.

The goal of the research is also to embrace the need to develop a clear understanding of ESP

vocabulary learning strategies and a network of activities that will enable graduates of agricultural

majors and other ESP spheres to continue enriching their professional vocabulary in the process of

their careers. The dissertation highlights that in order to teach efficiently ESP vocabulary to ESP

students majoring in agriculture, it is necessary to teach various layers of vocabulary (common English

vocabulary frequently used in ESP / agricultural texts, common academic English, common

agricultural English and narrow – according to the specialization of the student – specific vocabulary),

to develop a vocabulary-strategies-based syllabus and to employ activities teaching vocabulary

simultaneously vocabulary-learning strategies, to realize the developed syllabus.

In order to ensure the implementation of the stated objectives literature on the studied issue was

analyzed and theoretical conclusions were drown up, based on it. Another questionnaire survey to

study the state of the matter on the researched issue was held, another questionnaire compared control

and experimental groups’ student satisfaction before and after the experiment. An experiment,

involving a control group taught in the ‘traditional’ way (less oriented on VLSs) and an experimental

group taught in the way corresponding to the hypothesis (VLS-based). The data obtained via

questionnaire and experiment were statistically treated. Thus, the methods of research were

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quantitative and empirical. However, some qualitative data were also gathered as result of some open-

ended questions in the questionnaires.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. The model of VLSs development in an ESP course…………………………….. 47

Figure 2.1. Spidergram sample (developed by the researcher) ……………………….…… 59

Figure 2.2. Vocabulary Learning Strategies-Based ESP Syllabus and Materials Design .... 82

Figure 3.1. Control group test results ……………………………………………………….. 97

Figure 3.2. Experimental group test results ………………………………………………… 98

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1. Vocabulary learning strategies (developed by the researcher) ………….……….. …26

Table 1.2. The advantages and the disadvantages of various activity formats ………….…… 30

Table 1.3. Deep and surface approaches to study …………………………………………... …. 44

Table 2.1. The assessment of the textbooks by teachers ……………………………………….. 51

Table 2.2. The assessment of the textbooks by students……………………………..……..…… 53

Table 3.1. Difference between teaching in the control and experimental groups……………....... 83

Table 3.2. Assessment / rating questions/ results (students).……………………...…………….. 84

Table 3.3. Assessment / rating questions/ results (teacher respondents) ………………………… 86

Table 3.4. Pre-, while-, post- and delayed test structure and assessment system ………………. 88

Table 3.5. Summary of experiment results ………………………………………….…………… 99

Table 3.6. Paired Sample statistics for the results of the control and experimental

groups………………………………………………………………………………………..…. 100

Table 3.7. Paired samples correlation for the results of the control and experimental groups

…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 100

Table 3.8. Paired samples test for the results of the control and experimental groups

…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 100

Table 3.9. Comparison of mean results of pre- and post-questionnaires in the control and experimental

groups ……………………………………………………..……………………………………... 101

Table A1. Control group test results ………………………………………………………….. …………. 130

Table A2. Experimental group test results …………………………………………………….………….. 131

Table A3. Pre-questionnaire results for the control group …………………………………………… ….. 133

Table A 4. Post-questionnaire results for the control group . ……………………………………………… 134

Table A5. Pre-questionnaire results for the experimental group …………………………………………. 135

Table A6. Post-questionnaire results for the experimental group ……………………………………….. 136

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A2: Pre-Intermediate

BA: Bachelor degree

B1: Intermediate level

B2: Upper -Intermediate level

CD: Compact Disc

DJ: Disc Jokey

DF: Disc Free

EAP: English for academic purposes

ECTS: The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

EOP: English for Occupational Purposes

ESP: English for special / specific purposes

ESL: English as a Second Language

ESA: engage, study, activate

EU: European Union

GE: General English

ICT: information and communication technologies

IT: Information Technology

LLS: language learning strategies

L1: First Language; Native Language

L2: Second Language

MA: Master’s degree

NA: needs analysis

NACE: The National Association for Catering and Events

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PBL: Problem-Based Learning

PPP: Presentation, Practice and Production

ST. / STS. – Student / Students

TPR: Total Physical Response

TV: Television

UAA: Utilized agricultural area

VLS: vocabulary learning strategies

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………. I

List of figures ………………………………………………………………………………... III

List of tables …………………………………………………………………………………. IV

List of abbreviations ………………………………………………………………………… V

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..…. 1

CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND (LITERATURE REVIEW)

1.1. History of Teaching ESP………………………………………………………………… 5

1.2. Specific Features of Agriculture as a Sphere of ESP…………………………………..… 8

1.3. Teaching vocabulary ………………………………………………..... ………………...12

1.4. Strategies of Learning Vocabulary …………………………………………………….. 19

1.5. Activities for Developing Vocabulary Learning Strategies ……………………………. 29

1.5.1. Activities for Developing Vocabulary Learning Strategies through Productive Skills in

ESP……………………………………………………………………………………... 32

1.5.2. Activities for Vocabulary Learning Strategies through Receptive Skills in ESP …… 34

1.6. Developing Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Classroom Management …………. 37

1.7. Approaches to ESP Syllabus and Materials Design ………………………………….. 39

1.8. Age Peculiarities of University Students Dealing with Vocabulary Learning ……….. 42

1.9. Conclusion to chapter 1 ………………………………………………………………. 45

CHAPTER II. PRACTICAL ISSUES OF SYLLABUS AND MATERIALS DESIGN IN ESP FOR

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAJORING IN AGRICULTURE

2.1. Choosing and Assessing the ESP Textbook for agriculture …………………………….. 48

2.2. Topic, Text, and Vocabulary Selection for the Syllabus ………………………………… 54

2.3. Developing Vocabulary Memorization Strategies ………………………………………...58

2.4. Developing Vocabulary Application Strategies …………………………………………...61

2.5. Developing Vocabulary Meaning Elicitation Strategies ………………………………….. 63

2.6. Developing a Syllabus in English for Agriculture Emphasizing VLSs ………………….. 64

2.7. Conclusion to Chapter 2 …………………………………………………………………. 81

CHAPTER III. EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED AT THE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY OF

GEORGIA TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS

3.1. Background Information ………………………………………………………………….. 83

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3.2. Participants and Procedure ………………………………………………………………. 88

3.3. Measurement Tools ……………………………………………………………………….. 88

3.4. Teaching the Control Group ………………………………………………………………. 89

3.5. Teaching the Experimental Group ………………………………………………………… 92

3.6. Experiment Results and Discussion ………………………………………………………. 97

3.7. Interview Results ………………………………………………………………………… 104

3.8. Limitations ………………………………………………………………………………. 106

3.9. Conclusion to Chapter 3 ………………………………………………………………… 106

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ………………………………………… 108

References …………………………………………………………………………………… 112

APPENDICES:

Appendix 1 …………………………………………………………………………….……. 130

Appendix 2 …………………………………………………………………………………. 132

Appendix 3 …………………………………………………………………………………. 133

Appendix 4 ………………………………………………………………………………….. 137

Appendix 5………………………………………………………………………………….. 142

Appendix 6 …………………………………………………………………………………. 147

Appendix 7. …………………….. ………………………………………………………….. 156

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INTRODUCTION

Nowadays English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is not just one of the courses studied by

students at a university. Even where tuition is done in sstudents’ native language, much of the

independent reading in specialty is done online, where most materials are in English. To be able to

read for the professional development during the education at university and, what is especially

important, after it one needs a considerable amount of vocabulary known and potentially understood

professional text. This is why to possess effective strategies of vocabulary direct learning, on the one

hand, and its “picking up” in the process of reading and listening, on the other, is essential for both

language learning and professional competence.

Vocabulary is an essential skill in foreign language teaching. According to Asgari and

Mustapha (2011), Gu (2003), Kitchakarn and Choocheepwattana (2012), Koosha and Salimian

(2010), Letchumanan and Tan (2011), Richards (2002), language teaching researchers agree that

vocabulary skills are essential for communicative competence. As Wilkins (1972, p. 111) puts it,

“without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” Jalongo

& Sobolak (2011) have shown the positive impact of vocabulary acquisition on reading

comprehension and interest towards reading. Ali et al. (2012), as well as Mokhtar et al. (2010) in

their studies revealed that a low level of vocabulary skills can substantially hinder the development of

speaking, listening and writing skills. Ali et al. (2012) has found that the lack of vocabulary skills

causes problems not only in reading comprehension, but also generally in academic skills.

What makes teaching vocabulary to students majoring in agriculture so significant at Georgian

universities is the following:

1. Agriculture has been declared as one of the priorities of the development of Georgian economy

(The Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, 2016; 2015), correspondingly, the country needs

specialists in agriculture who will be able to use innovative approaches due to their knowledge

of the field as well as of agricultural English (as the majority of news are published in English).

2. Insufficient research carried out in the sphere in ESP in Georgia and an insufficient number of

existing international textbooks in the sphere of agriculture.

3. The Agricultural University of Georgia possesses a Vet-Clinic, the Georgian Culinary

Academy equipped with updated contemporary technologies. The latter is of particular

significance since the University cooperates with association of professional chemists of

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Georgia in their mutually established Test-lab. In order for students to study and work

efficiently in the clinic, academy and lab; to communicate with invited foreign specialists and

experts they need to be aware of specific professional communicative language based on field-

related terms.

4. The University has various different study and funding opportunities for students and since

they have a great chance to be exposed to real life language in the context, they need to know

the basics of ESP along with General English (branch-related vocabulary in particular).

Although since the 1990s much has been done in Georgia concerning the development of teaching

ESP, insufficient research has been carried out on the efficiency of the teaching, especially related to

vocabulary learning strategies. Based on the experience and the communication with the colleagues,

the researcher can state that the volume of the ESP vocabulary that students and graduates of majors

in agriculture in Georgia is not sufficient for the purposes of professional communication and that

they do not possess effective strategies to cope with the vocabulary challenges. Thus, the problem of

the research embrace the need to develop a clear understanding of ESP vocabulary learning strategies

and a network of activities that will enable the graduates of the agricultural majors and other ESP

spheres to continue enriching their professional vocabulary in the process of their careers.

The goals of this doctoral dissertation were:

To clarify the definition of the term “vocabulary learning strategies” and to suggest such a

typology for them, that would be effective for ESP teaching

To analyze and systematize the existing literature on the issue of strategies-based syllabus and

materials design for teaching ESP vocabulary to university students in general and majoring in

agriculture in particular,

To develop a strategy-based syllabus for teaching English for agriculture with a special

emphasis on vocabulary teaching / learning, prepare adequate learning materials and activities,

To find out the state of ESP (for agriculture) vocabulary teaching and learning in Georgia, and,

based on it, to define the directions of improvement,

To apply the developed syllabus and materials in teaching in order to find out their efficiency

The hypothesis of the study was:

In order to increase the efficiency of ESP vocabulary teaching to students majoring in

agriculture and to impact positively their satisfaction and self-confidence levels, it is necessary:

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To teach various layers of vocabulary (common English vocabulary frequently used in ESP /

agricultural texts, common academic English, common agricultural English and narrow – according

to the specialization of the student – specific vocabulary)

To develop a vocabulary-strategies-based syllabus

To employ activities teaching vocabulary and vocabulary-learning strategies, to realize the

developed syllabus

The methods of research were:

Literature analysis of the studied issue and drawing theoretical conclusions based on it

Application of questionnaire surveys to study the state of the matter on the researched issue,

also to compare control and experimental groups’ student satisfaction before and after the

experiment

Experiment, involving a control group taught in the ‘traditional’ way (less oriented on VLSs)

and an experimental group taught in the way corresponding to the hypothesis (VLS-based)

A pre- and post-experimental interview was held to the experiment participants – some

students and the teacher - in order to find out whether there was any change in the attitude to the way

vocabulary was taught.

Statistical analysis of the data obtained via questionnaire and experiment

Thus, the methods of research were quantitative and qualitative. However, some qualitative data

were also gathered as result of some open-ended questions in the questionnaires.

Novelty

Although teaching ESP (and the very term ‘ESP’) is relatively new for Georgia. Since the 1990s

certain practical achievements have been gained in the country in connection with it. Many teachers

of English at faculties not majoring in English have gained the knowledge of the difference between

general English and ESP; they apply corresponding textbooks and methods of teaching. However, few

enough research have been carried out to study these achievements and the existing challenges

(Doghonadze, 2011; Kadagidze, 2016; Kutateladze, 2014; Zoranyan, 2008). No such research has

been conducted in Georgia dealing with strategy-based vocabulary teaching to students majoring in

agriculture.

Theoretical value

The theoretical bases of my research are:

Nature of ESP (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Strevens, 1988);

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Strategy-based learning (Canale & Swain, 1980; Chamot & Kupper, 1989; Dornyei &

Thurrell, 1991; Flavell, 1979; Noles & Dole, 2004; Oxford, 1990, 2003);

Theories of language (in particular, vocabulary) teaching, learning and acquisition (Krashen,

1989; Laufer, 2003, Nation, 2001; Richards, 1990).

The theoretical value of the dissertation deals with the analysis and systematization of the

existing theories of ESP syllabus and curriculum development, vocabulary teaching, language

learning and vocabulary learning strategies, development and classification of activities for VLS

development in students. A model of teaching ESP based on a strategy-based vocabulary teaching has

been suggested in the dissertation and its efficiency has been tested experimentally.

Practical Value

The practical recommendations on how to improve ESP vocabulary teaching, which VLSs to

develop, what activities to employ constitute the practical value of the research. They will be useful

for ESP teachers and researchers. The practical materials that the dissertation contains can be applied

by ESP teachers, also the syllabus developed for English for agriculture may be applied directly (with

the same textbook) or in a modified way.

Structure of dissertation

The dissertation involves introduction, 3 chapters, conclusion, and 4 appendices (6 Ap. tables).

There are 19 tables and 5 figures in it.

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CHAPTER I -THEORETICAL BACKGROUND (LITERATURE REVIEW)

1.1. History of teaching ESP

The term ‘English for special / specific purposes’ (‘ESP’) arose in linguistics in connection

with the society development after the World War II. Before that English (or any other foreign /

second) language was applied and, correspondingly, taught for the purposes of interpersonal

communication. The language studied by linguists also was mostly the general one, used either in

everyday communication or in fiction. In the second half of the XX century the relationships between

countries became very active and diverse, and scientific-technical, as well as business communication

acquired a great importance. On the other hand, teaching in the 1980s was getting more student-

centered, so it had to be based on students’ needs (Nunan, 1988; 1989). As more and more business

and professional language was required from / demanded by specialists, it is natural that initially

linguists started a scientific study of the peculiarities of new, “special” / “specific” type of language,

and then their discoveries begin to be reflected in language teaching (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998;

Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Strevens, 1988). To do so, both students’ needs analysis (NA) and

register (i.e., style) analysis (RA) had to be taken into consideration. As professional communication

was the goal, discourse analysis (DA) in the corresponding sphere was not to be forgotten, either.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s linguists, such as Ewer and Latorre (1969), Swales (1971),

Selinker, Trimble and Trimble (1976), carried out text analysis, described various genres of scientific

and business communication, both oral and written. They came to conclusion that ESP as a branch of

language, as well as a course to be taught on post-secondary level, has absolute (typical for all spheres

and genres) and variable (typical for particular spheres and genres) characteristics. According to

Strevens (1988, p. 1-2), the absolute characteristics are: difference form general English (GE), course

design, based on learners’ needs, content, related to the disciplines that are students’

majors/profession, and teaching the language, typical for the sphere. Dudley-Evans and St John

(1998, p.4-5) added to this list different from GE activities. As for variable characteristics, Strevens

named a restricted number of skills taught (e.g., reading), while Dudley-Evans and St John spoke

about different “special” Englishes: Medical, Law, etc. They also mentioned that an ESP course is

normally designed for intermediate of advanced-level adult students, however, if needed, may be

taught to beginners.

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Anthony (1997) stressed that the border between ESP and GE is not rigid: the higher the level

of GE skills, the easier it is to teach ESP, as it is possible to restrict teaching to terminology and genre-

specific features. On the other hand, the ability to master ESP depends greatly on the background

knowledge of the learner, if the knowledge is on a professional (not student) level, even the low-

intermediate level of GE skills may be enough to learn to use ESP in work situations. This idea was

the basis of introducing new terms, ‘English for academic purposes’ (EAP - special English taught to

tertiary education students, not majoring in English), which was delineated from ‘English for

Occupational Purposes’ (EOP, which was held as in-service or sometimes a short pre-service training)

(Robinson, 1991). Anyway, both are kinds of ESP. There are certain contradictions among researchers

whether EAP and EOP are really so different and whether they belong to ESP. Hutchison and Waters

(1987), for instance, emphasize the word ‘purposes’, not ‘content’ in the definition of the term,

believing that a wide variety of applications of English should be included in the term ‘ESP”. In this

case it is possible to teach some general approaches to dealing with any ESP (such as formal language,

dealing with terminology, specific writing genres, etc.), as for particular terminology and contents,

learners will deal with them based on their professional knowledge (probably acquired in mother

tongue). On the other hand, Carter (1983, p. 2), supported by Gatehouse (2002), named three basic

characteristics of any ESP course: authentic material and tasks, purpose-related teaching and students’

needs. This approach is more content-based, however, it does not exclude some general for all ESPs

characteristics of formal and precise language. The approach emphasizing contents requires that

business, legal, medical, technical, biological and other Englishes are taught separately at the

corresponding departments at universities, which is practical, as, with this approach teaching English

is a part of teaching their profession. However, what definitely unites all of them is:

a) same – business-like + scientific-based style

b) same methods of teaching which is different from teaching GE

In this dissertation the researcher1 will deal with teaching professional (agricultural) English

to higher education students.

To develop an ESP course, it is necessary to regularly update the authentic texts, which,

especially in some spheres, such as information and communication technologies (ICT), may become

obsolete quite fast, which, in turn, will demotivate students. The lexical base may also need being

1 from now on by this term the author of this dissertation, Tamar Tskhvitava will be meant

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reviewed every few years. This is necessary, as NA will also yield different results with different

batches of students. These changes will be of cyclical nature (Laborda, 2011).

The benefits of teaching ESP at higher education institutions, compared to GE, are as follows

(Wright, 1992, p. 68):

1) Learning speed. Even when an ESP course has to start at low-intermediate level of English

skills (which is usually the case of the majority of Georgian college and university students

who take a Unified National Exam at the declared upper- intermediate – B1 – level of

English skills, but in reality do not reach this level, as the passing barrier is very low and

hardly corresponds to low-intermediate level), students, based on the knowledge of the

core courses, quickly gain an ability to carry out professional communication in English

on topics restricted by the syllabus.

2) Learning efficiency. As the selection of texts, topics and vocabulary is based on NA,

students are really motivated to study, are actively involved in the numerous and various

activities and eventually succeed in study. Students do not have a feeling that they are

wasting their time on useless texts, topics and vocabulary, they realize they are doing

things that will help them to get and maintain a job.

3) Learning effectiveness. As discourse analysis is another important basis of materials’

selection, what students know corresponds to what is needed in the sphere.

According to Tatzl (2013), ESP pedagogy tends to be eclectic and uses translation as well as

communicative approaches to reach its goals – the ability of the specialist to function as a specialist,

to read up professional literature as well as simply read letters, instructions and other official

documents, to answer profession-related letters, to communicate with colleagues at business meetings

and professional conferences, to present / to listen with comprehension to a report or a lecture on

professional issues, and simply to fulfill the boss’s directions. All stages of ESP teaching – planning,

course design, materials / language selection, activities, and assessment – are dedicated to one purpose

– practical application of English for professional aims.

Starting with the 1990s at Georgian universities more and more ESP courses have been

taught to students not majoring in English philology, however,

1) not all teachers and administrators realize the need of ESP instead of GE teaching in higher

education institutions;

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2) many teachers who deliver ESP classes have not been trained to do so and do it intuitively,

often choosing the easiest way – just reading and translating texts of professional contents;

3) the curricula are teacher-centered and students’ needs analysis is not held or held very

formally, for reporting to the Ministry of Education and Science and the National Center

for Educational Quality Enhancement rather than for increasing the actual quality of

teaching;

4) the textbooks used are either foreign-made, which do not / cannot completely take into

consideration Georgian students’ challenges in the process of ESP learning or outdated,

often even Soviet. It means that the issue of developing educational ESP (including

agricultural) materials for Georgian students is a real need (Doghonadze, 2011).

1.2. Specific features of agriculture as a sphere of ESP

Agriculture as a sphere is characterized by a great diversity of the sub-fields, it involves natural

(botany, zoology), technical (mechanization of farming and food industry) and economic (economy

of agriculture) sciences. It deals with biological, production, ecological and biotechnological issues.

It is impossible in one or two semesters normally dedicated to teaching English at agricultural

university / faculty to cover all these fields. This is why a more general approach needs to be developed

for students of all these directions, to provide minimum agricultural ‘literacy’, if it is possible to say

so (Kunanbayeva & Zhyltyrova, 2016). If students of, say, agrarian and natural science faculty, study

together with students of engineering/technological faculty and/or with students of business

administration faculty (the faculties that exist at the Agricultural University of Georgia), they will

need a common understanding on at least elementary level of all three spheres. Their classwork,

naturally, involves topics, reading and listening texts and vocabulary of all three. Even if students at

the Agricultural University in the academic group come from one faculty, they have various

specializations (to say nothing of personal needs and interests), so, individual (home, language

laboratory) work has to be related to students’ concrete specialty. ESP students do individual and

small (3-5 people) group projects, are involved in extensive reading according to their field and needs,

watch TV channels which deal with their branch of agriculture and prepare press-releases. Results of

their work are presented as an exhibition, at students’ conferences as well as at regular classes of

English. Field specialists who have adequate English skills are sometimes invited to these events.

Generally, while developing the course syllabus, the English lecturer will need to consult specialists

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of corresponding fields, probably, even have them as co-authors of textbooks, as English language

teacher’s qualification, even experienced in teaching English for Agriculture, will hardly be sufficient

for providing adequate course contents, answers to true/false questions, etc.

European Foundation for Working and Living Conditions analyzed the needs of agricultural

sector (defined as NACE sector 01) in 23 European Union (EU) Member States (Luxembourg and

Portugal being the exceptions) plus two candidate countries (Bulgaria and Romania) and Norway.

Chivu, Constantin and Preda (2005, p. 39), based on this analysis, presented the list of topics

compulsory for future agriculture professionals: basic employment and economic data on agriculture

(percentage of total employment and contribution to gross domestic product; gender and agriculture;

full and part-time employment and self-employed), the agriculture social partners (Trade Unions;

employers’ organizations), agricultural area (Utilized agricultural area (UAA) and cultivated area;

crop production, livestock production), mechanization, chemical fertilizers/pesticides and IT systems’

use. Correspondingly, these topics (with relevant listening and reading texts, vocabulary and

terminology) have to be reflected in teaching English to Agriculture students. Authentic materials on

these and other topics related with agriculture can be found on many web-sites, among which IDEWE

(2014) can be especially recommended.

Chivu, Constantin and Preda (2005) also mention that the vocabulary for English for

Agriculture involves several layers:

a) GE vocabulary often applied in agricultural texts

b) General widely used agricultural terminology

c) Terminology specific to a particular specialization of the student

It is possible to select it by applying a frequency text to newspaper articles, TV programs, and

popular science books and journals dealing with various agriculture-related topics (category ‘a’

above), agriculture textbooks (category ‘b’), as well as scientific articles in specialized journals and

conference proceedings (category ‘c’). The category ‘c’ vocabulary for farmers, for instance, includes

names of bulb vegetables, garden tools, leaf vegetables, root vegetables, seed vegetables, fruit and

other trees, flowers, gardening, etc., as well as verbs dealing with working on the farm (ploughing,

seeding, etc.). It is very desirable to include such a dictionary is in English for Agriculture textbook

or a larger complex (student’s book, teacher’s book, audio and video recordings, reader, grammar

guidebook with drills, and a dictionary, accompanied by computer-assisted language learning). The

book Career Paths: Agriculture by O’Sullivan & Libbin (2011), for instance, involves a student’s

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book, teacher’s book, audio CDs and cross-platform application. The series offers a glossary with over

400 vocabulary terms and phrases (general agricultural vocabulary).

An ESP course book, in particular, an English textbook for agriculture, is assessed based on

employers’ opinions (Doghonadze, 2011; Salehi, Khadivar, & Mehrabi, 2015). Interviews,

questionnaires, and on-site observations will help to do so. If there is no chance to substitute the book,

then it is teacher’s responsibility to compensate its drawbacks in the process of planning and teaching.

At the moment, taking into consideration that, since 2012 agriculture has been one of top

priorities of Georgian economy (The Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, 2015, p.18), Ministry of

Education and Science, the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, the Agricultural

University of Georgia are doing their best to meet the skills’ shortage in agriculture; they are taking

measures to include the design, content and delivery of the agriculture curriculum, and the promotion

of agriculture as a career to new students (The Ministry of Education and Science, 2016). In particular,

greater links between the university and the agricultural sector are provided in curriculum design. The

Agricultural University of Georgia tries to constantly maintain these links, create new ones, however,

for the moment the approach has not been spread on English teaching yet. It has to become the

corresponding department policy that English teachers develop their curricula in accordance to the

needs of the university and graduates, later applying for jobs in their subject fields. The requirement

for practical experience during the bachelor and higher levels of the Georgian Agriculture degrees

provides students with the opportunity to develop additional skills suited to particular professions. It

is also very important that employers (in this case, in the sphere of agriculture) pay attention to their

employees having adequate professional skills, including the ability to communicate in a foreign

(desirably English) language in all four forms (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) on

professional issues and for professional purposes.

Stan et al. (2012) held a research concerning designing an English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

course for students of Agriculture and Horticulture from the University of Agricultural Sciences and

Veterinary Medicine of Cluj, Romania, a state university. The target group involved students of

agriculture, agricultural economics, and horticulture. The pre-course needs analysis was held based

on Holliday’s (1995) requirements. The defined needs were “communicating with foreign peers;

reading professional literature, academic journals; writing technical and academic articles; attending

conferences, lectures; technical or business negotiation in English; reading instructions; writing

instructions; visiting and receiving foreign peers.” (Stan et al, 2012, p. 526). The language level of

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students was defined as from intermediate to advanced. Students had 10-11 years of experience of

learning English at school. At the first stage general topics were taught, such as nature, farming, etc.

Students were involved in simple conversations ad story-telling. The second stage involved general

professional topics, such as agriculture in Romania and EU, laws dealing with agriculture in Romania

and EU, traditional and contemporary methods of cultivating plants. At the third stage students worked

on projects and held presentations. Common (core) terminology was taught to all students, while

narrow specialty terms were dealt with individually, according to the needs. Not only English teachers,

but also corresponding field specialists were consulted on the meaning of terminology, when needed.

The textbooks and additional materials were selected according to students’ needs, their specialty, and

level of language skills. Teaching professional concepts and terms, information on the sphere and new

ideas aimed at the increase of student motivation. Unfortunately, the article only describes the process

of course design and does not speak about student and employee satisfaction upon graduation.

Poorebrahim and Mazlum (2013) discuss the same topic. To find out students’ needs, objective

(observation) and subjective (opinion questionnaire) methods were applied, to make the results more

reliable. Thirty hours of classes of Iranian university students majoring in agriculture were observed,

also five lecturers were interviewed. The students’ skills level was found pre-intermediate.

Considering the low level of students’ language skills the first semester was planned as a mixed (GE

and EAP) course, the further two semesters were completely dedicated to the EAP studies. The needs

analysis involved data triangulation: students, English teachers and content-subject teachers were

involved in questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was developed according to Richards

(2001). The challenges that the language skills cause in connection with learning ESP were assessed,

and reading was found the major concern of both students and teachers. Existing course books were

also analyzed. Classroom observation dealt with teacher-student relationships in the class. The

observation of content (major courses) lectures showed that in the process of lecturing in Persian,

professors from time to time applied English terms, which they wrote for students of the board. This,

of course, made it easier for students to understand professional terminology in ESP classes. As for

English classes, teachers did much translation and students seldom were involved in reading activities.

As Iranian MA entrance exams involve only reading and writing tasks, both students and teachers find

reading and writing important in ESP classes, and tend to ignore speaking and listening. The designed

course, analogously to Stan et al. (2012) study, included the first stage where they focused on

developing vocabulary and grammar comprehension strategies development, as well as scanning and

skimming reading skills (not necessarily based on content-related materials).

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Many studies of ESP teaching state-of-the matter (Alharby, 2005; Eksi & Balci, 2012; Tsao,

Wei, & Fang, 2008; Zabotkina, 2002) reveal that reading and translation are mostly done while

teaching ESP, however, there are studies that underline the need to pay attention to all communicative

skills and their linguistic (pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary components

(Doghonadze, 2011).

Thus, while assessing the existing or developing a new ESP course book for agriculture

students, it is essential to take into consideration:

1) Level of language skills (more often intermediate or upper intermediate)

2) Involvement of all communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing), with a

certain emphasis on reading; correspondingly, it is necessary to assess whether drills and

activities represent all skills and sub-skills (such as phonemic, grammar and vocabulary

sub-skills of listening)

3) Provision of general vocabulary often used in ESP, general agricultural and narrow (field

of students’ studies) terminology

4) General learning strategies, including language learning productive and receptive

strategies

5) Typical text genres in ESP / agriculture

6) Assessment should include performance / alternative / authentic assessment, such as

portfolios, not only testing

As any language textbook, an English for agriculture textbook has to be interesting and useful,

it should contain various topics and activities, not to cause boredom and to promote motivation.

Karimi et al (2013) mentions that in the majority of existing English for agriculture textbooks

reading texts are overloaded with difficult language which is not memorized by students, as there are

neither drills developing vocabulary skills nor authentic communicative activities. No or few

illustrations, graphs and diagrams that support comprehension are provided, and semantic maps to

create associations are not applied (Mazdayasna, 2008; Mazdayasna & Tahririan, 2008).

1.3.Teaching vocabulary

Since there has been a constant change in the teaching methods and techniques all over the

world in every subject, vocabulary teaching methods and techniques need desirable and radical

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changes in a view of the demanding job market in the globalized world. Vocabulary teaching has

experienced several stages characterized by Grammar Translation method, Audio-Lingual method and

Communicative Teaching method before obtaining a great attention from second language teachers

and researchers finally and yet there is an important distinction to be made between vocabulary

teaching and vocabulary learning. As commonsense and research evidence tells us, teaching does not

necessarily lead to learning. Some recent studies provide useful evidence of this. Walters & Bozkurt

(2009) found in a study involving vocabulary notebooks that even with the sustained deliberate

attention needed when using the notebooks, only about 40% of the vocabulary notebook words were

learnt receptively and 33% productively, clearly indicating that teaching does not equal learning. File

& Adams (2010) found in their experimental study that teaching had a 35–48% effect for the

vocabulary deliberately taught as measured by an immediate post-test. The evidence from L1 studies

is even less impressive in terms of time spent on teaching vocabulary and the number of words actually

learned. Keating (2008), for example, found that sentence writing – the most effective activity –

resulted in around half of the words being learned. Other activities, such as texts with glosses and

read-and-fill-in-the–blanks, had poorer results. Folse’s (2006) best activity, using the same word to

complete three sentences, also resulted in around half of the words being learned. The studies used

typical vocabulary-learning activities, tried to use them as realistically as possible and tried to measure

learning in a useful way. The results also agree with a classroom-based L1 study by Biemiller & Boote

(2006), who found that about 40% of the words they taught were actually learned. This could be due

to over-application of the value of deliberate attention to vocabulary resulting in (1) too much

vocabulary teaching and (2) too many teacher-imposed vocabulary-focused activities and exercises.

Word learning involves both intentional (explicit) learning which is the focused study of

words and incidental learning. Incidental learning happens when the words are picked up while the

learner’s attention is on language use (Zimmerman, 2009). There are different ideas about the best

way to learn vocabulary, but relying on different research studies, there are four tasks for

vocabulary learning:

Repetition: repeated exposure to target word is of great importance for vocabulary learning.

There is a lot to learn about a single word, so the learners need to meet it several times to

gain the required information. Webb (2007) explains that for each repetition of a word, at

least one piece of word knowledge is acquired; therefore, a typical learner should meet a

word about 8 to 10 times to obtain full word knowledge.

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Focus on meaning and form: Learners need to be provided with opportunities to focus

both on form and meaning. Nation (2007) has introduced the idea of ‘the four strands’ which

proposes a balance between form and meaning:

Focusing on meaning-focused input

Focusing on meaning-focused output

Focusing on language-focused learning

Focusing on fluency development.

Nation believes that it is necessary to provide the learners with opportunities to focus on

these four strands so that they can produce a word and focus on its form and meaning.

Engagement: When learners reflect on words and their use, it means that they thoughtfully

analyze the words. This is technically referred to as engagement. When learners pay enough

attention to a task and have to manipulate it, they learn or do the task more effectively and

this is true also for word learning. Stirling (2003, p. 4) found that “learners who used target

words in a writing task remembered them better than those who saw them only in a reading

task, partly because they needed to understand a linguistic aspect of the word to complete

the task and they were required to search for the information”.

Interaction and negotiation: the other effective task for vocabulary instruction is

interaction and negotiation. As discussed in the previous paragraphs, word learning is a

consequence of exposure, attention, time, and manipulation. Oral interaction and

negotiation can effectively include exposure, attention, time and manipulation.

Students’ age, level of education as well as English proficiency, etc. affects their learning, so

teachers need to be aware of these differences when applying their teaching techniques. Techniques

employed by teachers depend on some factors, such as the content, time availability, and its value for

the learners (Takač, 2008). Here are some more techniques and strategies of teaching vocabulary as

stated by Taylor & Francis (2014) and Webb & Chang (2012).

Using Objects -Using this technique includes the use of realia, visual aids, and demonstration.

They can function to help learners in remembering vocabulary better, because our memory for

objects and pictures is very reliable and visual techniques can act as cues for remembering

words (Takač, 2008). In addition, Gairns & Redman (1986) state that real objects technique is

appropriately employed when presenting concrete vocabulary.

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Drawing - Objects can help learners easily understand and realize the main points that they

have learned in the classroom.

Using Illustrations and Pictures - Pictures connect students’ prior knowledge to a new story,

and in the process, help them learn new words. The list of pictures includes: posters, flashcards,

wall charts, magazine pictures, board drawings, stick figures and photographs. Pictures for

vocabulary teaching come from many sources. Visual support helps learners understand the

meaning and helps to make the word more memorable.

Contrast - Some words are easily explained to learners by contrasting it with its opposite, for

instance, the word “good” contrasted with the word “bad”. Vocabulary is best acquired if it is

similar to what has already been learnt, it is not surprising that learning antonyms is a way to

expand our vocabulary. Learning about synonyms and antonyms is important also because this

is how dictionaries are organized.

Enumeration - An enumeration is a collection of items that is a complete, ordered listing of

all of the items in that collection.

Mime, Expressions and Gestures - This teaching strategy is relevant for comprehension

(Tellier, 2007). However, its utility depends on the kind of gesture used by the teacher. It has

been highlighted that foreign emblems, for instance, may lead to misunderstandings when they

are not known by the learners (Hauge, 1999; Sime, 2001). In addition to supporting

comprehension, teaching gestures may also be relevant for learners’ memorization process.

The effect of gestures on memorization is thus something witnessed by many but hardly

explored on a systematic and empirical basis (Tellier, 2008).

Guessing from Context - Learning from context not only includes learning from extensive

reading, but also learning from taking part in a conversation, and learning from listening to

stories, films, television or the radio (Nation, 2001). This technique encourages learners to

take risks and guess the meanings of words they do not know as much as possible. This will

help them build up their self-confidence, so that they can work out the meanings of words

when they are on their own. There are many clues that learners can use to establish meanings

for themselves, such as illustrations, similarity of spelling or sound in the mother tongue, and

general knowledge (Walters, 2004).

Eliciting - This technique is more motivating and memorable by simply giving pupils a list of

words to learn.

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Translation - Even though translation does not create a need or motivation of the learners to

think about word meaning (Cameron, 2001), in some situations translation could be effective

for teachers, such as when dealing with incidental vocabulary (Thornbury, 2002), checking

students’ comprehension, and pointing out similarities or differences between first and second

language, when these are likely to cause errors (Takač, 2008). There are always some words

that need to be translated and this technique can save a lot of time.

Etymology - whenever we teach an English word that is completely strange, we can ask

students to look it up in a dictionary or other reference books, and / or surf on the internet to

find its origin. The interesting stories behind a word’s birth can be a very good reminder for

students to remember the particular word (Hutcheon, Campbell, & Stewart, 2012).

Using morphological analysis of words - The most commonly used roots and affixes are only

600-800 in number. By using the analysis of roots, affixes and word structure, we can teach

thousands of English words. For example: hand / handle / handful / handicap / handsome /

beforehand...

Dictionary – Dictionary work is considered to be laborious, but necessary, and that EFL

students need to be taught the practical use of the dictionary. Exploring dictionary entries can

be one important and effective component of understanding a word deeply. The entries can

also help students determine the precise meaning of a word.

Collocation – It is a widely accepted idea that collocations are very important part of

knowledge and they are essential to non-native speakers of English in order to speak or write

fluently. According to Carter and McCarthy (1988, p. 6-8), “it teaches students expectations

about which sorts of words go with which ones. Students will not go about reconstructing the

language each time they want to say something”.

Synonyms - Synonyms help to enrich a student's vocabulary bank and provide alternative

words instantly. These can be effective since they build on words and phrases that students

already recognize. “True” synonyms are relatively rare and the answers will often be “near-

synonyms”. The students could make crosswords, word snakes or other puzzles for each other,

using these synonyms.

Words often confused: - Teacher provides the meaning of such words, if necessary. For

examples: adopt / adapt, beside / besides, principal / principle, etc.

Homonyms - Homophones may also be spelt alike, as in ‘bear’ (the animal) and ‘bear’ (to

carry).

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Word Map / Spidergram - Students work in small groups to learn connections among words

by brainstorming and organizing words according to a map that they design or a blank one that

is provided by the teacher. An example might be a key-concept word in the center of the page

with rays connecting related words. After clustering words which they feel go together, they

map the relationships between these words (Jackson, Tripp, & Cox, 2011).

Phrasal verbs - Teachers include phrasal verbs in their classroom language as much as

possible – and draw attention to these from time to time. There are many phrasal verbs in the

English language and they are used in normal, everybody speech and writing.

Crossword puzzle - Students can do the puzzles in class in pairs, as a race with other students,

or at home as homework. The teacher can also design a ‘Word Puzzle’, which is also called a

‘Word Cross’, asking the students to cooperate in groups to find and circle the words that the

puzzle contains. The teacher might also place several versions of the word in the puzzle, with

only one of them being the correct spelling. The students must circle only the word with the

correct spelling (Teal, 2003).

Word formation - Morphological rules reveal the relations between words and provide the

means in formation of new words. The expansion of vocabulary in modern English depends

chiefly on word-formation. According to Walters (2006), words produced through affixation

constitute 30% to 40% of the total number of new words; compounding yields 28% to 30% of

all the new words; words that come from shortening including clipping and acronym,

amounting to 8% to 10%, together with 1% to 5% of words born out of blending and other

means. So by analyzing the processes of English word-formation, we can infer word-meanings

and learn more new English words.

Reading the word - Reading words aloud is also very beneficial. It makes a learner familiar

with the word and also improves pronunciation of the learners. Sound can be an easy way to

illustrate words that describe sounds, such as whistle, scratching, and tinkling. Teacher can

make the sounds him/herself, or bring in tapes or CDs for students to listen to and write down

the words that they hear (Frumkin, 2010).

Series, scales, systems - The meaning of words that form part of well-known series can be

made clear by placing them in their natural order in the series.

Role play - Role-play is to create the presence of a real life situation in the classroom. It is

important in the classroom communication because it gives students an opportunity to practice

communicatively in different social contexts and in different social roles (Neal, 2015).

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Use video to produce the target vocabulary - Select a video segment that contains a series

of actions or visual detail. Provide the learners with a list of target vocabulary words and ask

them to construct a paragraph that incorporates as many of the words as possible. This activity

is best done after the learners have seen the video. As they learn how to use more vocabulary

properly, you will see an improvement in their writing and speaking. Teacher can also show a

short film without sound and asking pupils to discuss what dialogue they would expect to hear.

Showing a scene from a film without sound and asking pupils to use the facial expression to

determine emotion (BavaHarji, Alavi & Letchumanan, 2014).

Games - A factor in students’ willingness to allocate their time and effort is their interest and

motivation (Sideridis et al., 2006). Word games are obviously helpful because they can make

the student feel that certain words are important and necessary because without those words

the objective of the game cannot be achieved. By bringing fun to language classrooms, games

help create a relaxed atmosphere, which plays a role in students’ recollecting things faster and

better. Most language games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning

the correct forms. Sideridis et al. (2006) have claimed that individuals wish for an optimal

level of challenge. For them, we are challenged by activities that are neither too easy nor too

difficult to perform. The optimal level can be obtained when there are clearly specified goals.

Malone and Lepper (1987) suggest that factors such as difficulty levels, multiple goals, and a

certain amount of informational ambiguity are required by games. Finally, goals must be

meaningful to the individual.

Speaking Tasks - Speaking tasks such as split information (information gap) tasks, class

presentations, ranking activities, and problem solving discussions are not usually thought of

as having vocabulary learning goals, but a vocabulary learning goal can be effectively

designed into many speaking activities. In a study on 45 Vietnamese learners, Huong (2006)

sought to examine the effect of speaking tasks on vocabulary learning in group work and

concluded that some students recall their experience of learning vocabulary in the group work.

Students also perceive the importance of vocabulary in the process of using English and

alongside engaging with words, they are also using each other’s vocabulary knowledge.

Vocabulary testing - The Vocabulary Size Test (Nation & Beglar, 2007) has only recently

become available for use in both monolingual and bilingual forms. There is a growing body

of evidence on the need for a large vocabulary size. The online tests available at Tom Cobb’s

website www.lextutor.ca provide very accessible and efficient ways of helping learners get

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this information. We may see an increase in the meta-cognitive knowledge that teachers

provide for learners about vocabulary size, and more of a dialogue between teachers and

learners about the nature of vocabulary growth and learning goals.

Multimodality - the newest method being applied to teach English, began developing in the

late 20th century, and has its roots in the field of literacy and the development of reading and

writing skills. Its foundation lies mainly in presenting the information through more than one

sensory mode using varied materials, e.g. visual (images, videos), audio (music, sounds),

gestural (movements, facial expressions), and so on. Modes are different ways to

communicate, create meaning and finally understand the world. Taking the task-based

approach into consideration, it is possible to determine that presenting and involving the

students in their learning process highly improves their acquisition of new words. For example,

the use of visual aids and productive task activities engage the students into the content of the

lesson and unconsciously help them to use and remember the words. Therefore, the benefits

of multimodality constitute a vehicle of change for teachers' practices (Lwin, 2016).

1.4. Strategies of learning vocabulary

The vocabulary skills that a student possesses involve two aspects: the number of words and

phrases that the student can understand and/or use and the depth / quality of understanding of the word

meaning (Qian, 2002). To improve both, certain teaching and learning strategies have to be applied.

Chamot and Kupper (1989, p. 9) define learning strategies as “techniques which students use

to comprehend, store, and remember information and skills”. Although learning strategies have been

used by people consciously or intuitively for centuries, their scientific study began in the mid-1960s,

with the ‘cognitive revolution’. Effective learning strategies permit to acquire more in less time.

Learning strategies are especially emphasized while teaching at high school and in tertiary education,

as in conditions of life-long learning that is a must for any professional nowadays, people will be

unable to continue their education effectively.

This sub-chapter is dedicated to language learning strategies (LLS) in general and vocabulary

learning strategies (VLS) in particular. Oxford (2003, p. 8) defined language learning strategies as

“specific actions taken by the learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-

directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations”. Takač (2008) notes that VLSs are

particular strategies used for learning vocabulary in either general English or ESP. Learning

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vocabulary for speaking and writing, as productive skills, requires different strategies, while learning

vocabulary for listening and reading, as perceptive skills, requires different strategies (Laufer, 1998).

As vocabulary learning strategies are tightly linked with reading comprehension strategies, a

definition of reading strategies is also necessary in this sub-chapter. According to Afflerbach, Pearson

and Paris (2008, p. 368), reading strategies are “deliberate, goal-directed attempts to control and

modify the reader’s efforts to decode text, understand words and construct meanings of text”.

There are two major groups of language teaching and learning strategies: direct (purposeful,

form-focused, teacher-centered instruction, based on presentation, practice and production – PPP) and

indirect (incidental, student-centered, and content-focused learning). Direct teaching / learning

strategies deal with presenting the new vocabulary by the teacher, while indirect learning of

vocabulary occurs in the process of listening and reading, when unfamiliar vocabulary meaning has

to be elicited by the learner, based on situation, context, background and linguistic knowledge (with

or without teacher’s and peers’ help). Direct strategies mostly provide the productive application of

the acquired vocabulary.

According to Naeimi and Foo (2015), direct strategies are more effective than the indirect ones

including the pre-intermediate level of language skills (as with lower level of skills it is too difficult

to do incidental vocabulary learning). On higher levels of language proficiency indirect vocabulary

learning strategies become more important. Taking into consideration the fact that, according to

Unified National Entrance exams in Georgia are based on B1 (intermediate) level, undergraduate

students are expected – theoretically – to already possess sufficient language skills to use indirect

strategies of vocabulary learning. However, as the passing grade is rather low, their language skills in

reality often are on pre-intermediate and even lower levels. This is why, when teaching ESP to

agricultural students in this research, application of mixed – direct and indirect – strategies will be

necessary.

While teaching the vocabulary directly (overtly), teachers, according to Nation (2005), apply

translation, synonyms, definitions-interpretations, demonstration of an object, a picture or an action,

examples, and analysis of word structure. Students, when coming across unfamiliar words, try to use

analogous strategies, they look up the words in a bilingual dictionary, to find their translation, or use

a monolingual dictionary with definitions, synonyms and (if applicable) illustrations. Unless

explained the advantages of monolingual dictionaries, students prefer to use monolingual dictionaries,

as a more direct and faster – as they think – way to comprehension. To use an on-paper, as well as an

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on-line dictionary requires special strategies, as the majority of words are polysemantic, and it is

important to be able to choose an adequate definition / synonym, considering the linguistic contexts

and the sphere of human activity the word comes from. Only some students are able to do it

independently, the majority of students need to be explained how to do it and then practice using the

strategy under teacher guidance initially and independently, eventually.

Monolingual dictionary definitions are often written in sophisticated language, this is why

students often avoid using them. On the other hand, monolingual dictionaries usually do not provide

explanations of words, and, if the phenomenon / concept reflected in the unfamiliar word is also

unfamiliar, it is only a bilingual dictionary that can help students understand the word and the text.

This especially concerns ESP students, as in a text they may come across with unfamiliar terms, not

just unfamiliar words (Ali, 2012). When students cannot find in the dictionary the word itself, but

find a word with the same root, those students who have relevant strategies try to apply their

knowledge of morphemes, however, this strategy is, unfortunately, usually not taught or practiced at

school or even university, so few students use it. It is necessary to teach students to name and /or to

find in the text cognate words or, at least, to express their hypotheses, which words that they know in

the target or native language, may be the cognates of the given word.

As for indirect strategies, they are mostly related to listening and reading comprehension. Their

application is, correspondingly, oriented on receptive language skills. However, some of the

vocabulary acquired in this way, is later used by students productively, as well. Interestingly, not all

students whose linguistic, especially vocabulary, skills are not too rich, are necessarily poor

communicators. According to Stanovich's (2000) interactive compensation theory, some students are

very effective in applying compensation strategies: while listening or reading they know how to

understand the whole utterance without taking into consideration some linguistic elements, or they

know how to elicit their meaning based on general and linguistic knowledge, context, and situation;

while speaking or writing they avoid using words and structures they do not know and apply

synonyms, descriptions, or definitions, to express the same meaning. And vice versa, although without

linguistic skills no verbal communication can occur, caring too much about understanding every word

in an utterance will break the communication down. Osborne (2010), Praveen and Premalatha (2013)

also mention that, while concentrating too much on the meaning of individual sentences, students

often do not ‘see’ the whole text behind them. They, as well as Ciascai (2009) and Kintsch and Rawson

(2005), suggest an effective technique of graphic organizers to turn the text from isolated statements

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to a real piece of information. Graphic organizers may include text structure and list of events,

character names and their relationships in a fiction or non-fiction story, key concepts, their meanings

and relationships in a scientific text, theme and sub-themes or main idea and supporting facts in

newspaper articles and fiction texts. They may be linear or hierarchical, look like a map or a matrix.

Graphic organizers may be classified, considering their structure (webbing, mapping, matrix, and

chart) or function (description, comparison, classification, sequencing, finding cause and result). This

strategy is especially effective for visual learners. However, according to Barron (1969), while graphic

organizers definitely help comprehension, their application may decrease motivation (probably for

other-than-visual types of learners).

Morphological analysis of word structure is effective for both direct and indirect strategies of

vocabulary learning. Studies by Carlisle and Stone (2005), Kieffer and Lesaux (2007), Koosha and

Salimian (2010), Varatharajoo, Asmawi, and Abedalaziz (2015), Wang et al. (2009) support the idea

that language proficiency, especially reading comprehension, significantly increases, when language

learners know well word-formation rules, prefixes and suffixes. It increases their potential vocabulary

a lot. Kieffer and Lesaux (2007) mention that high school children and university students deal with

sophisticated texts that contain many derived words. ESP students come across with many terms

which are derived words. That is why being able to analyze the morphemes that constitute the words,

initially under language teacher guidance and then independently is very helpful for them,

With the growth of interest towards ESP, the role of teaching reading has revived, as English

used for academic and professional purposes requires well-developed reading skills. If under reading

we understand the technique of establishing letter-to-sound correspondence, reading (at least, in

English) is easy enough. However, if under reading we understand deep text comprehension, reading

is a sophisticated activity for which having strategies, including unfamiliar vocabulary comprehension

strategies, is essential. Noles and Dole (2004, p. 179) state:

The teaching of strategies empowers readers, particularly those who struggle, by giving them the

tools they need to construct meaning from text. Instead of blaming comprehension problems on

students’ own innate abilities, for which they see no solution, explicit strategy instruction enables

students to take control of their own learning and comprehension.

Only part of students are inherently strategic ones, correspondingly, strategies of learning

(including vocabulary) need to be explicitly taught, at least to those students who are not very strategic

learners. The usefulness of teaching vocabulary and reading strategies for reading comprehension was

shown by Al-Ghazo (2016), Cubukcu (2008), Habibian (2015), Mokhtar et al (2011), Salataci and

Akyel (2002), Wichadee (2011) and many others. The usefulness of vocabulary and listening

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strategies for listening comprehension was revealed by Tabeei, Tabrizi, and Ahmadi (2013). Erskine

(2010) and McLoughlin et al. (2000) held studies that support the positive impact of language learning

strategies on language proficiency.

According to Oxford (1990), there are direct and indirect, as well as memorization, cognitive,

metacognitive, compensation and social strategies. Among memorization strategies, besides practice

(mechanical rehearsal from a list, possible with a definition or a translation, listening to / reading texts,

containing the given words, applying the media -Internet, TV, and radio, fulfillment of drills, such as

matching, gap-filling, sentence-building, and vocabulary-focused communicative activities, such as

writing a story applying the given words, making up a dialogue on a given topic / situation, where the

words under study can be used), there are such mnemonic methods as key-word, loci, acronym and

rhyming. Lv and Young (2015) describe the following mnemonics dealing with vocabulary:

shallow (dealing with word pronunciation and spelling), including similarity with some

known native or target language word, rote rehearsal (written and oral), making up

student’s own word-list or keeping a personal vocabulary; word cards with a picture /

translation / definition / example on the other side;

deep (applying etymological or morphological approach; using imagery or associations;

memorizing in exemplary collocations or sentences).

In the process of ESP learning, cognitive strategies often deal with concept learning together

with learning new terminology (Chiu & Churchill, 2016; Rowson & Dunlosky, 2016). While cognitive

strategies are the ones helping understanding, metacognitive ones deal with thinking about learning,

or planning, monitoring, and evaluating the learning process. Social strategies deal with getting help

from teacher and learners.

Islami-Rasekh and Ranjbari (2003) in their study found that direct metacognitive strategy

instruction could significantly improve the vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners Fan (2003)

classified vocabulary learning strategies into a ‘primary category’ which involves dictionary strategies

and a ‘secondary category’ which unites guessing and remembering strategies which include

repetition, association, grouping, and analysis strategies. In this dissertation metacognitive strategies

will be emphasized, as they help eliciting vocabulary meaning while reading, as well as let university

students become autonomous learners. The problem is that students are often unaware of the very

existence of such strategies, and even those who do use them intuitively, cannot explain how they

grasp the text meaning. Only a few percent of foreign language students, who are normally effective

readers of difficult texts in the native language as well, use comprehension strategies consciously.

24

Madhumathi and Arijit (2012) in their research with participation of 52 first-year engineering students

studying at a private university in India found that successful ESL students were using the same

strategies as native language students, besides, they transferred their strategies from the native

language. Less successful students used few if any vocabulary learning strategies.

Flavell (1979) suggests that cognitive strategies involve perceiving, understanding, recollecting

and other strategies, while metacognitive strategies are used to monitor these cognitive strategies.

Cohen and Macaro (2007) and Farhady (2006) have identified different vocabulary learning strategies

such as: 1). memorization strategies, 2) repetition strategies, 3) association strategies, 4) key word

method, 5) inferencing strategy, 6) dictionary use, 7) semantic grid strategies, and 8) word lists.

Although the named strategies themselves are OK, their grouping is not too logical, as repetition,

association, keyword, semantic grid, and word lists belong to memorization strategies, while

inferencing and dictionary use are comprehension ones. Peregoy and Boyle (2013) offer such

vocabulary learning strategies as Total Physical Response (TPR), Webtools for learning vocabulary,

Read-Alouds, Word Cards, Word Wall Dictionary, and listgroup-label.

Barrett (1972) names five levels of reading comprehension: literal (bottom-up approach to

comprehension – from words to sentences and from sentences to text – is applied), reorganization

(“mapping’” the text, finding the details that will help for analysis), inferential comprehension (trying

to understand what is not clear), evaluation (sorting out the information obtained from the text as

important / unimportant, new / known, shared / inappropriate for the reader), and association (making

the new background knowledge part of existing one). Each level requires various comprehension

strategies. The linear model of comprehension means moving from the lowest to the highest level of

comprehension (Nassaji, 2007). However, a mixed model, moving from one level to another,

according to the arising need, better explains what the majority of foreign language readers do while

reading. Besides, all students use their own strategies, including some stages and omitting others. The

choice of strategies depends on the particular difficulties, students’ socio-cultural factors and

individual peculiarities, such as learning styles. According to Hong-Nam and Leavell, 2006), gender

has significantly influenced students’ choice of reading strategy. Female students, for instance, more

often use strategies than males. Students, who use only low-level strategies, usually have problems

with text understanding. For them it is difficult to use compensatory strategies (when they come across

unfamiliar vocabulary).

Chamot et al. (1999) developed a metacognitive model of learning, including planning,

monitoring, problem solving, and evaluating. On the planning stage students need to decide, whether

25

they will work individually, in pairs or in groups, use a dictionary when they come across vocabulary

problems or try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words, etc. On the monitoring stage students

review their background knowledge which can help them understand the given text. On the problem-

solving stage they will use their linguistic and background knowledge, nominate their hypotheses and

verify them, discuss them with each other and/or the teacher. On the final, evaluating stage, students

will get feedback from their group mates and/or the teacher.

For the teacher to understand, whether the student really (and correctly) understood the word, it

is important that the student can use it in his/her own sentence. Nisbet (2010, p. 14) offers that the

student completes the sentence started by the teacher: “The audience asked the virtuoso to play another

piece of music because…”

Sometimes there are so many unfamiliar words in the text,, that looking up each of them turns

reading from an enjoyable / fruitful communicative activity into a torture, students try to guess word

meanings, based on context, linguistic and general knowledge. On the other hand, guessing the

meaning may occur on two conditions: sufficient background and vocabulary knowledge. According

to Juan, Abridin and Eng (2013), possessing a vocabulary stock above 5,000 words is the threshold

above which guessing the meaning becomes possible. As for the background knowledge, the better

the student is acquainted with the topic of the text, the easier for him / her it is to make a qualified

guess. In ESP students are expected to possess a good enough competence in the content-matter, that

is why making a guess of the word meaning is easier for them than for general English learners who

may come across a totally unfamiliar topic.

Nisbet (2010), Nation (2006), Vitale and Romance (2013) and some other researchers found

that both schoolchildren and adult learners need to acquire much more vocabulary than can be taught

directly. This means that students’ ability to learn vocabulary inductively, in the process of listening

and reading, is essential in order to enable them to learn sufficient lexis for communication.

Consequently, Vitale and Romance (2013) studied whether vocabulary acquisition could be

accelerated by using a “multi-part, semantic word-family-oriented learning strategy to inductively

expand vocabulary taught directly” (Vitale & Romance, 2013, p. A1). The results revealed that not

only students’ vocabulary skills, but also their reading skills increased as result of intervention which

aimed at developing students’ skills to understand the meaning of unfamiliar key-words through

guided meaning elicitation.

26

Reading and vocabulary skills are tightly related to each other. On the one hand, the richer the

student’s vocabulary, the easier reading comprehension. On the other hand, the more student reads,

the richer his/her vocabulary becomes. This especially concerns reaching out of the intermediate level.

It is practically impossible without abundant and regular reading, as oral texts are usually poorer in

vocabulary (Perfetti, & Stafura, 2013; Poulsen, & Elbro, 2013; Zhang et al., 2013).

Although, as shown above, teaching VLSs has a positive effect on vocabulary acquisition and

the development of all language skills, especially reading ones, it often meets some student resistance,

as this is quite an intellectually-demanding task. To make the process easier, think-aloud techniques

can be applied, when more successful in application of strategies students describe step by step their

comprehension strategies. Teachers need to try to make the process of vocabulary comprehension and

memorization an enjoyable one, incorporating into it games, humour, and competition (Zabidin,

2015).

Based on the literature analysis above, in this dissertation vocabulary learning strategies are

classified as in table 1.1.

Table 1.1. Vocabulary learning strategies

Strategy types for productive skills

(direct, purposeful, form-focused,

teacher-centered strategies)

for receptive skills

(incidental, student-centered, and content-

focused strategies)

for speaking for writing for listening for reading

Memorization Oral reciting

the word

several times,

rehearsing from

word lists and

word cards,

answering short

questions,

naming objects

in pictures,

describing

pictures,

story-telling in

chain,

Drills

(grouping,

wrong word

out, matching,

gap-filling,

translation),

games (cross-

word puzzles,

wheel of

fortune),

mnemonics (fill

in the missing

letter; write the

word several

times to

remember its

spelling),

Repeated listening to

recordings,

containing words

under study (isolated

word lists, typical

sentences, and

thematic texts).

Repeated reading of

sentences /

paragraphs / texts

containing the words

under study,

using graded readers

(which provide

repeated use of the

vocabulary under

study).

Making up graphic organizers in the process

of and after listening / reading, based on the

same root or other morphemes, collocation

ability, theme, lexico-semantic group.

27

making up short

dialogues.

dictation,

translation,

making up

collocations /

sentences /

short stories

with the given

words,

application of

monolingual

(native to target

language)

dictionary,

thesaurus and

language

activator.

Cognitive Pre-speaking and pre-writing

activities, such as brainstorming of

the useful information and

vocabulary,

completing a sentence by the word

under study.

While listening,

writing down

unfamiliar words,

then asking peers for

help

Using a dictionary

(mono or bi-lingual),

making up one’s own

vocabulary in the

process of reading.

Meaning elicitation (individual or in groups),

based on

background knowledge,

illustrations,

title,

linguistic knowledge

context + linguistic / background

knowledge. meta-

cognitive

Planning Making up a

plan for a

speech

(including key-

words) with

application of

graphic

organizers.

Making up a

plan for an

essay (including

key-words)

with application

of graphic

organizers.

Planning how to

improve one’s

listening skills.

Planning how to

improve one’s

reading skills.

Planning whether to

use a dictionary or to

apply elicitation

strategies (and,

possibly, check them

with a dictionary), to

use the dictionary

immediately or just

underlining the

words and using the

dictionary when the

28

reading process is

over.

Monitoring Listening to the

recording of

one’s speech

with a special

attention to

vocabulary.

Self-editing,

with a special

attention to

vocabulary.

- -

problem-

solving

Paraphrasing

the forgotten or

unknown word

Paraphrasing

the forgotten or

unknown word

a) ignoring

the

unfamiliar

word,

trying to

get the

meaning on

the whole

b) making

inferences

and trying

to check

them in the

process of

listening

a) applying

the

dictionary

b) using

guessing

strategies

Evaluation Peer- and self-

assessment

Peer- and self-

assessment

Listening

comprehension test

Reading

comprehension test

Social Group discussion of vocabulary learning strategies

(developed by the researcher)

The activities that develop productive skills and relevant strategies are normally teacher-centered,

as it is teacher who decides which words to teach, which activities to use, and how to carry out

assessment. However, as shown in the next sub-chapter, these activities may turn into student-centered

ones, if the vocabulary, the way to do presentation, practice and assessment is done by students. For

university students this approach is appropriate, as they are independent enough to be able to do it

independently, under minimum teacher’s monitoring. In more detail the activities for the development

and application of vocabulary learning strategies will be discussed in the next sub-chapter.

A comment has to be done concerning dictionary application. Normally it is used in the process

of reading, as the majority of existing dictionaries are for receptive purposes. However, such

dictionaries as thesaurus and language activator can be used to prepare for a speech and especially to

write an essay. Unfortunately, not only the majority of students, but also a great many of teachers have

29

no idea about these dictionaries and their applications. In a thesaurus one can find many synonyms

and clarify the difference between them. This is very useful in essay writing, in order to avoid the

abuse of the same word. Language activator, besides synonyms, contains thematic groups and

information about collocation. Strategies of application of these dictionaries have to be taught, if we

want our students to write accurately and precisely (Çepik, 2004).

1.5. Activities for developing vocabulary learning strategies

According to Nation (2001), knowledge of vocabulary involves the phonetic, orthographic,

orthoepic, grammatical and semantic (denotative and connotative) aspects, also the collocation ability

of the word. All these are not isolated, but interrelated. For example, knowledge of various

morphological forms of the same words is connected with some spelling rules (such as, for instance,

doubling the consonant for short vowels before adding –ed / -ing), however, dealing with them

requires the application of various strategies of learning.

Students may develop second / foreign language vocabulary strategies intuitively, especially if

they have such strategies in native language learning. Native language learning strategies are partly

transferred to target language learning, however, it does not always occur automatically (Chen, 2005).

Besides, students may not possess such strategies in native language learning, and this fact will

aggravate the situation. For instance, Nalliveettil (2014) research involving 52 engineering students

in an Indian university has shown that all successful readers applied reading and vocabulary strategies,

partly successful students used poorer strategies, while unsuccessful students had no or a very vague

idea of what reading or vocabulary strategies are.

Thus, the majority of researchers recommend explicit / overt / direct strategy teaching (Bueno-

Alastuey & Agullo, 2015; Yang & Wang, 2015). This dissertation is dedicated to such strategy

teaching. The think-aloud approach (Nalliveettil, 2014; Singhal, 2001; Thompson, 2006) has been

shown as effective for developing vocabulary learning strategies. After the teacher presents and

demonstrates the application of a certain strategy, the students who fastest get it, speak aloud the

concrete cases: how they memorized or elicited the meaning of the word. If student’s level of the

target language skills is an obstacle for the application of the think-aloud approach, they may be

permitted to do it in the native language. However, students’ native language application should be

minimized and done only in exceptional cases.

30

To enrich students’ vocabulary applied by ESP students for communication it is necessary to

develop the relevant strategies, summarized from the literature review in table 1.2. Activities used for

these purposes may be organized as individual, pair, small group or whole-class ones. All these

formats have advantages and disadvantages, so a mixture of formats is an optimal variant, to

eventually benefit all students. When developing a course-book / materials, it is better to mention

which activity has to be performed in which format, however, teacher may feel free to change the

format sometimes. If the activity fulfillment format is not mentioned, teachers who are less aware of

the need to apply all these formats may choose just one (more often, whole-class). In table 1.2 one

can see the advantages and the disadvantages of the four formats.

Table 1.2. The advantages and the disadvantages of various activity formats

Activity format / its advantages

and disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages

individual teacher controls the results

by either asking every

student or collecting their

writings

every student applies the

strategy suitable for him /

her

each student works at a

rate convenient for him /

her

students who do not like

public speaking feel safe

there is no communication

in class

there is nobody to help in

case of difficulty

the student who has

completed the task may be

disturbing others

it is difficult for the

teacher to help or control

Pair students share vocabulary

and background

knowledge and meaning

elicitation strategies

(strategies are discussed

and learned from each

other)

the activity involves

communication

students who do not like

public speaking normally

feel safe (unless the

partner is unfriendly)

students may get wrong

knowledge from each

other

a weaker or lazy student

may loaf

a stronger or a more

dominating student may

not actively involve the

other student in the

learning process, not

listen to his / her opinions

31

small group students share vocabulary

and background

knowledge and meaning

elicitation strategies (the

more brains, the richer the

knowledge and the

strategy)

the activity involves

communication

students who do not like

public speaking normally

feel relatively protected

(unless the partners are

unfriendly)

team work is practiced

students may get wrong

knowledge from each

other

weaker or lazy students

may loaf

a stronger or a more

dominating student may

not actively involve other

students in the learning

process, not listen to their

opinions

whole-class teacher feedback is

provided for all answers

everybody has to work

at the same rate, so no

disciplinary problems

normally arise

the process is

communicative

teacher gets enough

feedback and can

summarize the activity

results

shy and less self-confident

students avoid

participation

everybody has to work

at the same rate, so

some students may be

bored or lag behind

strategies are neither

discussed, nor shared

(developed by the researcher)

Besides the classroom organization forms, application of the Internet for vocabulary acquisition

has to be mentioned. As the Internet is mostly used in the process of independent work (at home),

students should be beforehand presented some vocabulary learning software and explained the

strategies of choosing and using them. So, at least some time has to be dedicated in class to teaching

these strategies. The teacher, for instance, needs to explain to students that they should choose

software corresponding to their level of vocabulary skills. In turn, to help teacher apply vocabulary

software in class, students, then, may find effective software and offer teacher to use it in class

(Yilmaz, 2015).

32

1.5.1. Activities for developing vocabulary learning strategies through productive skills in

ESP

It has been shown that vocabulary learned receptively is to a little degree transferred to

productive skills (Solati-Dehkordi & Salehi, 2016). This is why, whether applying direct or indirect

vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary has to be taught differently for productive and receptive

communication.

Productive vocabulary learning strategies are known to all teachers and students. Students, for

instance, often learn vocabulary from word-lists. The lists may be given by the teacher or made up by

themselves. However, research (Sinhaneti & Kyaw, 2012) has shown that learning vocabulary from a

list is an inefficient strategy for the majority of students. Students usually remember well few first and

last words from the list and forget the rest. Besides, they remember the words in the order given in the

list, but not necessarily in other order. This is why making word cards instead of word lists is more

efficient. Cards may be picked out at random in the process of learning, so all words will have

approximately equal chances to be memorized. Both these approaches deal with isolated words, so if

a student finds it efficient for him / her to rehearse words from a list or cards, it is desirable that s/he

does it with an exemplary sentence. Making up a personal vocabulary out of these lists and/or cards

is a good idea. In this vocabulary the student will easily find the word when needed. This vocabulary

may be informal and contain whatever information (including the mnemonic strategy) that the student

finds useful.

All ESL / EFL course-books normally involve various vocabulary drills, such as matching the

word (in ESP course-book – the term) and the definition, matching the synonyms or the antonyms,

matching the words that collocate, gap-filling (with the words given in a box or not), semantic

grouping, classification (entitling the box / blurb), substitution and multiple choice (in isolated

sentences or in a text). To memorize the spelling or the pronunciation of the words rote repetition is a

useful, but definitely uninspiring activity, especially for undergraduate students. Filling in the missing

letter(s) is effective, and, if done in context, it may be applied to distinguish homophones. Answering

short questions can be made more focused on vocabulary acquisition than answering long questions,

which are useful for developing speaking skills per se. Describing pictures in ESP is very effective,

as pictures may present not only the structure (of, say, a plant), but also a process. Without doubt, all

these activities are useful for the development of vocabulary skills. However, students often fulfill

them mechanically, so that no or little productive skills are created. It is well known that to learn

33

something well is to teach it to somebody else. According to Merisuo-Storm (2006) and Jalongo and

Sobolak (2011) these drills do not provide students’ interest, motivation and involvement in classroom

activities. This is why making up the above activities will better develop their strategies of vocabulary

memorization and application. For instance, making up a multiple choice drill, students will need to

provide one easy and one difficult distracter. For this they will need to know themselves the difference

between homophones, synonyms, false cognate words, etc. Of course, how to make up a useful drill

has to be explained by the teacher. In this way, students will not simply memorize the new vocabulary

presented by the teacher, but will learn to use it accurately, and will develop the strategy how to choose

the right word for their utterance.

Making up graphic organizers are effective for both memorization and better comprehension

(Ciascai, 2009; Praveen & Premalatha, 2013). This can be applied as a useful pre-listening, pre-

speaking, pre-reading and pre-writing activity. If graphic organizers made up according to semantic

groups and collocation ability are effective for the development of productive skills, graphic

organizers made up according to word structure and topic are useful for the development of receptive

skills.

ESP is believed – not without reason – to be drier and, correspondingly, more boring course.

Word games can help liven up the course (Sideridis et al., 2006). The student who makes up the cross-

word puzzle has to memorize the definitions, as s/he will be responsible for checking his / her peers’

work. A very simple and enjoyable game is writing the words under study on small sticky sheets of

paper. The words will be stuck on students’ shoulders, everyone will have to go round the class (it is

a stand-up activity) and try to help the person who has the word on his / her shoulder to guess the

word. If the pair is successful, the guesser gets the sheet with the word, and the hinter – some token

(a button, a coin, etc.). The winner is the person who in five minutes collects more sheets and tokens.

While hinting, no words with the same root are permitted.

Diepenbroek and Derving (2013, p. 6) name the following conversation strategies:

conversation management, illocutionary force, interpreting conversation cues, indirect questions,

explaining/paraphrasing, negative questions, question tags, small talk, and social expressions. By

conversation management they mean the initiation, maintenance and closing of the conversation, by

illocutionary force they mean making an utterance stronger or softer, by interpreting conversation

cues they imply understanding relationships between the speakers. Other strategies deal mainly with

grammatical skills which are beyond this dissertation. Among the strategies named by Diepenbroek

and Derving the explaining / paraphrasing strategies are essential for teaching ESP vocabulary, so

34

these strategies have to be taught to ESP students. When they do not know or have forgotten the term

they need, they need to be able to explain:

What area / issue it deals with

Describe the object according to its function, material, size, shape, colour, etc.

Define the term

Give the collocation / sentence without the term (the context might help the interlocutor

to guess the needed word)

To make the teaching of vocabulary more implicit, speaking tasks may not emphasize the

vocabulary under study, but a content-based topic (Bueno-Alastuey & Agullo, 2015). Such tasks can

be given not only by teachers, but also by students who can be requested to offer professional topics

for discussion. If no purposeful vocabulary pre-teaching was done for the topic, a fast brainstorming

activity can be held. Role-play activities may be conducted, characteristic for the field (such as At a

stand of an agricultural exhibition). Short student presentations (3-5 minutes) on a certain professional

topic can be a role play of a professional conference and the successful ones can later, after extension,

become the bases of real student conference papers.

1.5.2. Activities for vocabulary learning strategies through receptive skills in ESP

The term ‘incidental vocabulary learning’ deals with Krashen’s (1989) idea about learning and

acquisition, as well as viewing listening and especially reading in a second language as valuable

sources of vocabulary enrichment. Although it contributes to the development of receptive skills,

being contextual, incidentally learned vocabulary can be accurately used productively. Input

enhancement is an interesting idea, which supposes the application in the text of such typographical

enhancement as underlining, bold or italicized fonts for key words. This focuses the students’ attention

on the words, while the nature of intention is not linguistic, but content-based. A task of selection of

key-words from the reading and even listening text develops the students’ vocabulary strategies.

Words from the extensive reading text that will be printed bold, italicized or underlined, have a higher

probability to be memorized by the students than other words from the text.

As direct vocabulary teaching strategies normally begin with the presentation by the teacher

of the new vocabulary, to develop analogous learning (or indirect) strategies, students (individually,

in pairs, or in small groups) may be asked to choose the unfamiliar vocabulary from the reading text

(or the script of the listening text) and prepare it for presentation (Naeimi & Foo, 2015). The reading

/ listening text may be the one according to the syllabus (from the textbook) or the one chosen by

35

students, which has to be related to the topic under study. If the group size permits, each student should

once present vocabulary for their new reading / listening text to his group individually, once – in a

pair and once – in a small group. Of course, the teacher needs to start with (probably, at one lesson)

modeling the vocabulary presentation process – via showing the object or picture, miming the action,

providing a synonym, antonym or a definition, and a good context or by telling a short story. This will

provide that students do not present the new vocabulary via translation only.

Answering listening / reading-based comprehension questions stimulates students to both

memorize and recollect the vocabulary contained in the text and use it contextually (Becerra Cortés,

2013; Chou, 2015). In fact, the previous and this activity delete the strict boarder between productive

and receptive strategies, as they begin with reception and continue with production. Thus, the

suggested classification is useful for practical purposes, but it does not have to be rigid. Such reading

comprehension tasks, as true / false usually do not contain the words used in text, but their synonyms,

paronyms, hypernyms, paraphrases, descriptions, and definitions, thus, helping to develop vocabulary

skills.

Incidental vocabulary learning is defined by Laufer (2003, p. 574) as follows:

Incidental learning does not mean that the learners do not attend to the words during the task, they

may attend to the words (for example, using them in sentences, or looking them up in a

dictionary), but they do not deliberately try to commit these words to memory.

According to Bruton, López and Mesa (2011), this kind of second / foreign language vocabulary

acquisition is more natural and resembles that of the native language, however, it requires abundant

listening and reading practice, like in the L1 acquisition, which, in the case of the target language does

not really take the place (especially, listening practice). This is why the teaching of the relevant

strategies has to be direct. Generally, the findings concerning the direct, purposeful, and indirect,

incidental vocabulary gains (and strategies) are contradictory. Some studies (Solati-Dehkordi &

Salehi, 2016; Tajeddin & Daraee, 2013) show the advantage of the former approach, while others

(nowadays in majority) support the higher efficiency of the latter (Ahmad, 2011; Brown, Waring &

Donkaewbua, 2008; Ellis, 1994; Harris & Snow, 2004; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006). Al-Ashri (2011)

and Thornbury and Slade (2006) recommend the combination of the indirect and direct approaches to

strategy teaching. Richards (1990, p. 87) indicated that the two approaches (direct and indirect

teaching) are complementary and recommended that "a balance of the two approaches would seem to

be the most appropriate methodological option".

36

There are, probably, more variables involved, such as text selection, learners’ age, their level of

language proficiency, learning styles, etc. For example, general reading comprehension can occur

only if students know 75-80% of vocabulary of the text. Otherwise, effective meaning elicitation

simply cannot occur. As the process of authentic listening is more ephemeral (there is no chance to

return to the text, as in reading), this percentage has to be even higher (Bonk, 2000). This is why,

obviously enough, to reach results in teaching a target language, both approaches, and sometimes a

mixture of them, as in the activities described above, is more efficient.

Basically, dictionaries are used when students do intensive reading (with detailed comprehension)

independently (Becerra Cortés, 2013; Chatzidimou, 2007; Dziemianko, 2011). Looking up a

dictionary generally contradicts the incidental learning idea, however, if the dictionary is applied only

to check the student’s hypothesis dealing with the word meaning, and also if the dictionary is used for

key words comprehension only (say, one – tow words per page), then this strategy is quite appropriate

for extensive reading as well. While choosing a dictionary, an ESP student needs to use a specialized

one. If such a dictionary is unavailable, special (field-related) meanings will be the most appropriate

ones. But even in this case, the meaning has to be compared to the context, and, if needed, to be made

more precise.

To develop the strategies of dictionary application, it is necessary to include such activities in the

class work (normally, students apply dictionaries at home, where neither peers’, not teacher’s

feedback can be obtained). This is why sentence, paragraph or text-based tasks requiring dictionary

application, need to be included. These may be true / false (the word xxx in the sentence stands for

yyy) or multiple choice tasks. To develop the meaning elicitation strategies, these tasks have to be

better performed in pairs or small groups (Rahimian, 2013).

Among dictionaries, traditional (on-paper) and electronic dictionaries may be used, however, for

contemporary students the use of electronic dictionaries is not only easier (search can be done in

several dictionaries simultaneously; the word is found by the search system, all the student has to do

is to type the initial form of the word), but also more motivating, as the majority of contemporary

students prefer to use computer and other electronic gadgets for all purposes instead of on-paper

resources. Today students have internet in mobile phones, so online dictionaries are available for

students at any moment (Chatzidimou, 2007; Dziemianko, 2011; Zarei & Gujjar, 2012). Among

electronic dictionaries, online dictionaries are the best, as they are linked together and refreshed often

enough, while CD dictionaries and pocket electronic dictionaries are not. Besides, their volume is

limited. Dwaik (2015) studied the efficiency of such an activity with the application of electronic

37

dictionaries as ‘the word of the day’. The teacher announces the word of the day, and the students

have to find as much information in the electronic dictionaries and other electronic sources with it as

they can (individually, in pairs or in groups) in the given time (5-10 minutes within the lesson or till

the next English class). Then they present their findings in front of their peers, also describing the

strategy of search.

Anticipation / forecasting is an important skill for listening and reading (Kamide, 2008). Although,

based on false anticipation, a comprehension mistake may occur, in the majority of cases anticipation

helps students to be a more proficient listener and reader. This is why using such activities as reading

‘erased’ text from ‘old’ books or texts containing some jumbled-letter or even meaningless in reality

words (meaning of which, however, may be elicited by students according to context) is a useful

exercise (Packman et al., 2001; Pelli, Farell, & Moore, 2003):

e.g. I cndlu't bvleiee taht I culod acuatlly uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg (= I couldn’t believe I

could actually understand what I was reading).

The teacher, however, needs to explain how students make up their forecasts. Then students will

be able to develop a corresponding strategy.

As already mentioned, teaching ESP is dryer in nature than teaching general English. This is why,

although students realize the professional necessity of field language, the learning procedure may

demotivate some of them. Texts containing interesting news from the field are effective, of course,

but we the application of humorous texts cannot be ignored, either. Jokes about famous scientists and

inventions will increase students’ desire to read ESP texts. Bell (2009), Garner (2006), Matthews

(2011), Ness (2009) and Zabidin (2015) reported that humour indeed encouraged vocabulary retention

and learning motivation among learners. Ness (2009), in particular, emphasizes that new vocabulary

can be effectively taught or knowledge of familiar vocabulary can be refined with jokes and anecdotes,

as they are based on homophones, polysemantic words, etc.

1.6. Developing vocabulary learning strategies and classroom management

Classroom management has been defined as the “actions taken to create and maintain a learning

environment conducive to successful instruction” (Brophy, 1996, p. 5). Marzano (2003, p. 88) names

four areas that classroom management deals with: “establishing and reinforcing rules and procedures,

carrying out disciplinary actions, maintaining effective teacher and student relationships, and

maintaining an appropriate mental set for management”. Evertson & Weinstein (2006, p.4) defined

classroom management as the actions teachers take to create an environment that supports and

38

facilitates both academic and social-emotional learning. Effective classroom management helps the

university language teacher conduct smooth teaching and involve students in learning activities.

Omoteso & Semudara (2011) and Stronge, Ward, & Grant (2011) have found a positive correlation

between effective classroom management and productive learning.

In order to achieve the learning objectives, teachers have to create an effective classroom

environment, interact with the students, facilitate the learning process, monitor their progress and

assess their achievements (Arikan & Ozen, 2015). For the effective classroom environment, it is very

important that the student is self-confident and self-reliant. Knowing the strategies of vocabulary

learning will make the process of learning it easier and more enjoyable. Teaching EFL students to be

strategic learners is the best way to facilitate their learning.

When vocabulary learning is done in groups, and students possess the strategies of meaning

elicitation and choosing the right word, when they share these strategies with each other, they will

feel safe and comfortable and learn more vocabulary, as well as communicate effectively with the

help of this gained vocabulary. Lee & Ng (2009) emphasize the benefits of working in small groups,

dealing with letting students to rehearse language while experiencing the support of their peers. Lee

and Ng suggest that a facilitating strategy (the teacher or a more competent student acting as a

facilitator) allows to scaffold or support learners throughout student-to-student interactions.

When a teacher views students as able strategic learners, an atmosphere of trust will develop in

the class, and discipline disruptions will not occur or occur very seldom. Of course, the application of

vocabulary learning strategies may be a time-consuming process, especially in the period when these

strategies are just formed (Boonkongsaen & Intaraprasert, 2014). Some teachers and students may

avoid dealing with the development of learning strategies due to it. But, when ultimately formed, they

will permit to use effective time management in the class. Instead of making guesses blindly, by trial-

and-error method, the efficiency of which is very low, students will make qualified guesses, and

understand listening and reading texts fast and adequately.

University students are adult learners. They are autonomous enough and can use their life and

field knowledge to make their language (in particular, vocabulary and terminology) learning effective.

Their brains are open for strategic learning of vocabulary, but it is very desirable that the teacher

manages the language class in such a way that, instead of providing limited by the classroom time

vocabulary knowledge, s/he arms them with strategies that they will apply in and out the class, as well

as in the process of lifelong learning. Feeling treated as and being adults is a very motivating approach,

which helps solve many classroom management problems. The university ESP syllabi and lesson

39

plans are made up in such a way as to help students develop language learning strategies. This is to

be done step by step, not to turn language lessons into theoretical lessons of strategy learning, and of

course, each theoretical step of strategy explanation need to be followed by sufficient practice

(Chamot et al, 1999). This will enable students to internalize the strategies and to transfer them to new

vocabulary learning tasks. Nguyen and Gu (2013) have incorporated metacognitive strategy

instruction into a writing program and found that this increased students’ vocabulary as well as overall

language skills. Macaro and Erler (2008) and Urlaub (2012) found that the incorporation of strategy-

learning into a reading syllabus yielded an increase of reading skills’ level. Mizumoto & Takeuchi

(2009) and Lai (2013) obtained an analogous result for the incorporation of vocabulary learning

strategies into a language learning syllabus.

If some theoretical courses can be learned without students actively involved in activities, a foreign

language cannot be studied by students simply listening to the teacher. This especially concerns

productive skills. If students are not actively involved in speaking and writing activities, they will

never develop corresponding competences. Student reticence in EFL classes, remark Carter and

Henrichsen (2015), does not necessarily mean that they do not know the language or are not motivated

to learn it. The reasons may be cultural (Bell, 2012) or individual (e.g., shyness, introversion, lack of

self-confidence, trait anxiety). Students may simply be trying to avoid the humiliation of making a

mistake and being criticized for it. “Many observations have shown that students’ personal and

interpersonal anxieties with respect to their self-perception and beliefs about FL learning are the most

powerful determinants of language acquisition” (Baran-Lucarz, 2014, p. 452). All these can be helped

by developing students’ learning strategies, as well as by effective classroom management. It is easier

to involve reticent students in the process of language (including vocabulary) learning if, instead of

individual and whole-class work, teachers apply pair and small group work. If students share learning

strategies, they will gain self-confidence, which, in turn, will help them to be actively involved in the

language learning process.

1.7. Approaches to ESP syllabus and materials design

Curriculum, syllabus and course design are very responsible in educational planning. A good

curriculum / syllabus is an absolute prerequisite for successful teaching, this is why their design should

be treated with a special attention.

40

Nowadays syllabus design is mainly learning outcomes oriented (Hassan et al., 2016; Şeker,

2016). This is the result of student-centered approach and is absolutely right. However important the

teacher’s competence is in deciding what the course teaching goals are, it is more important what

students expect from the course. Studying students’ needs is the corner stone of any ESP course

(Munby, 1978).

Documents of the Bologna Process (ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009, p. 13) define learning

outcomes as “statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to

demonstrate after completion of a process of learning”.

Learning outcomes in English language teaching, according to the Common European

Framework for Language Teaching (Council of Europe, 2001, p. 55), involve “improved

competences, awareness, insights, strategies, experience in decision-making and negotiation”.

It is easy to see, how important learning strategies are according to both definitions. In this

dissertation the central place of learning outcomes is not denied, simply the focus of study is one of

their aspects – vocabulary learning strategies, as ESP teaching is largely based on the adequate

application of field-specific terminology.

It is necessary to mention that in educational literature the terms ‘curriculum’ and ‘syllabus’

sometimes are used synonymously, especially in the US. However, in European context, in formal

documents there is a strict distinction between the, ‘curriculum’ staying for the whole program, while

‘syllabus’ – for a particular course (Allen, 1994). If the term ‘curriculum’ refers to the contract

between society, the state and educational professionals (Khwaja, et al., 2014), then a ‘syllabus’ is

contract between teachers and their students, designed to answer students' questions about a course

(Slattery & Carlson, 2005).

This is why the review of literature in this sub-chapter will involve some publications

including both terms, however, in this dissertation the term ‘syllabus’ is applied.

About 30 years ago a language syllabus looked as a list of vocabulary and grammar to be

mastered, as well as the list of topics to speak about. With the communicative and functional

approaches, language syllabi have changed a lot. They may or more often do not include any

vocabulary lists, while they in detail describe the competences necessary for verbal communication.

Various syllabus types have been proposed for teaching ESP: structural, situational, functional-

notional, task-based, text-based, and content-based (Ellis, 2003; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Jordan,

1997; Watson, 2003). Contemporary ESP syllabi are mostly of eclectic character, having some

features of some or all the above (Brown, 1995). This dissertation, not doubting the value of such

41

syllabi, however, tries to offer one more important aspect of ESP syllabus design, namely, vocabulary

strategy-based approach.

Although a syllabus has to involve many important aspects of teaching the course (teaching

goals and learning outcomes, teaching and learning methods, assessment, etc.), this dissertation, due

to volume limitation, deals with the course contents, in particular, with incorporation vocabulary

learning strategies into an ESP course. Correspondingly, this sub-chapter will present how VLSs will

be incorporated into the contents of the ESP for students majoring in Agriculture.

A foreign language syllabus, according to contemporary requirements (Council of Europe,

2001), has to include several essential components. However, as stated by Al-Ashri (2011, p. 3),

whose opinion the researcher completely shares, “teachers of English focus on the first three

components of communicative competence (linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse) at the expense of

strategic competence. They think that once grammatical, sociolinguistic and discourse competencies

are developed learners will be able to communicate effectively in the real world. They ignore the fact

that strategic competence is an essential component in the communicative competence that plays a

major role in communicating successfully”. This dissertation underlines the need to incorporate

vocabulary learning strategies in the ESP syllabus.

Canale and Swain (1980, p. 30) define strategic competence as “the verbal and non-verbal

communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for breakdowns in

communication due to performance variables or to insufficient competence. Dornyei and Thurrell

(1991, p. 17) describe it as “the ability to get one's meaning across successfully to communicative

partners, especially when problems arise in the communication process.” Like vocabulary skills are

the important micro-skills within listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, the ability to

memorize, understand and apply vocabulary is the constituent of all language strategies.

Students tend to have grave problems with speaking strategies (including their vocabulary

aspect), as, although the importance of speaking is generally emphasized nowadays (e.g., in Georgian

National Curriculum), it is often not the part of the tests (such as admission national exams in

Georgia), this is why teachers often rather ignore practicing speaking with students. On the other hand,

without having such strategies, students are often unable to express their ideas and avoid

communication (ეროვნული სასწავლო გეგმა, 2011). This often happens, for instance, when they

cannot recollect or do not know the word they need and they are unable to use the strategy of using

paraphrases, descriptive clauses, synonyms and antonyms instead of the needed word.

42

While enumerating the strategies that will – step by step – be incorporated into the syllabus, it

is essential to mention the activities that will help develop these strategies. Without it, presentation of

strategies by teacher, their theoretical knowledge will remain a dead load in the course and students

will be unable to apply them (Haadas, 2011).

Beck & Kosnik (2001), Shawer (2006) and Shawer, Gilmore & Banks-Joseph (2009) found

that teachers design or modify the syllabus in response to students’ needs, motivation and

performance. Although there may be a pre-made syllabus before the teacher starts a particular group

of students, it is essential to adjust it to their needs, that is why, while starting to teach the ESP course,

the teacher needs to hold a student questionnaire or interview, to find out which strategies they are

less aware of, to stress them in the syllabus.

When writing an ESP syllabus, three principles of curriculum / syllabus design have to be

taken into consideration: awareness, autonomy and authenticity (Lier, 1996). All these correspond to

strategy-based syllabus design, as students need to be aware of effective learning strategies, become

autonomous learners due to their application, and use those LLSs and VLSs that L1 learners also use.

1.8. Age peculiarities of university students dealing with vocabulary learning

Issues of teaching students of various ages is studied by developmental psychology. According to

Piaget (1972), learners of the age 12+ belong to formal operational stage of development, for which

abstract or hypothetical-deductive learning is characteristic. This makes university students well

prepared for being taught a strategy-based approach.

According to Erikson (1968), university students belong to two age groups: adolescents (up to 19)

and young adults (20 to 40). Adolescents are generally effective learners, but their conflicting nature

(no longer children, but not adults yet) makes their learning unstable, characterized by peaks and falls.

Identity versus role confusion is characteristic for them, according to Erikson. Yung adults are more

stable in their motivation to learn and the effort spent on learning, but their intellectual level is the

same as that of adolescents. Intimacy versus isolation is their characteristic conflict.

Both school and university teachers nowadays often complain that students are unmotivated,

uneducated, lazy, etc. and blame students for low academic results. Blaming university students for

lack of effort is especially wide-spread, as university teachers are rather expected to deliver the

information to the students, while students are viewed as themselves responsible for their learning. To

a certain degree this is true, as mental development of university students permits them much

43

independent study. However, it would be strange to expect that this change from a schoolchild, largely

guided by teacher, to an independent learner will occur in one day, and with no teacher participation.

“The aim of teaching is simple: it is to make student learning possible” (Ramsden, 2004, p. 7).

Compared to school, university learning does not only involve study of what teachers and course-

book present, it also involves finding relevant sources for study and doing some (re)search (Ramsden,

2004). University students choose from elective courses, from and additionally to supplementary

literature that the syllabi offer them, they are ready for choosing some study and especially discussion

topics, activities, and even ways of being assessed. Students choose courses based on the course

descriptions available on the university web-sites, their interests and abilities. Students are introduced

to the syllabi in the very beginning of each course under study. If they miss a class, they have a guide

(the syllabus) that will help them to catch up. The syllabus is like a travel map, according to which

each student can choose his / her individual route, taking into consideration their learning style, time

available, knowledge of and interests in the field of study / majors).

Team work, remarks Ramsden (2004, p. 9), is essential both in teaching and learning at the

university. Teachers of related courses have to cooperate, to avoid too much overlap, on the one hand,

and to find support (positive transfer) for the materials they teach, on the other. It is very important

that ESP teachers cooperate with teachers of major courses, to be aware of students’ background

knowledge, to apply the right terminology, and to select the topics and the materials for reading. ESP

students often create blogs or special interest groups on the internet, to help each other find useful

resources and learn.

Although undergraduate students can already do academic study, they feel sometimes demotivated

by the dryness of the abstract materials, so they still need some (probably, intellectual) games, humour,

warm-up and stand-up activities.

The learning outcomes in the ESP course involve not only linguistic materials and skills, but also

a deeper understanding of the major field of their study. We expect students to understand (and not

simply be able to translate) the terms under study, some ideas and topics discussed, to have their own

opinion on them (Mulwa, 2015).

Critical, creative and strategic thinking is among the learning outcomes that undergraduate

students need to develop, thus, it is possible to say that the development of LLSs and VLSs is totally

within undergraduate students’ needs and capacities. Tasks that develop students’ LLSs and VLSs

44

simultaneously provide students’ intellectual development. Lifelong learning is essential in teaching

on the tertiary level, correspondingly, learning strategies are the tools that will enable students to

continue their learning of English.

William Perry’s (1988) work at Harvard University revealed that undergraduate students’ intellect,

their ability of abstract thinking develops intensively during the years of study at the university.

According to Ramsden (2004, p. 32), at university students gain much theoretical knowledge, but

a big part of it is further unused and thus forgotten. This is why, while teaching ESP vocabulary,

instead of memorizing much of it, VLSs need to be emphasized, as they will enable students to

maintain and to continue learning those words and terms that are connected with their jobs.

Taking into consideration of a (potentially) high level of learner autonomy of university students,

not only teachers, but also – and most importantly – students need to be aware about their learning

styles, to maximally benefit from the process of learning.

Some students at any age tend to be deep learners, while others – surface / shallow learners.

However, at university the percentage of deep learners increases compared to that of surface learners,

as more intellectual school-leavers tend to continue education after school. The features of deep and

surface learners are shown in table 1.3. It is easy to see that deep learners possess features necessary

for acquisition and application of strategic learning. This means that, on the one hand, that

undergraduate students, by age peculiarities are able to acquire language learning and vocabulary

learning strategies, but on the other hand, some of them (surface learners) may have problems

acquiring and using these strategies. These students will need extra attention on the teacher’s part.

Table 1.3. Deep and surface approaches to study

Deep approach: intention to understand. Student

maintains structure of task

Surface approach: intention only to complete task

requirements. Student distorts structure of task.

Focus on ‘what is signified’ (e.g., the author’s

argument, or the concepts applicable to solving the

problem)

Relate previous knowledge to new knowledge

Relate knowledge from different courses

Relate theoretical ideas to everyday experience

Focus on ‘the signs’ (e.g., the words and sentences of

the text, or unthinkingly on the formula needed to

solve the problem)

Focus on unrelated parts of the task

Memorize information for assessments

Associate facts and concepts unreflectively

45

Relate and distinguish evidence and argument

Organize and structure content into a coherent whole

Internal emphasis: “a window through which aspects

of reality become visible, and more intelligible”

(Entwistle & Marton, 1984)

Fail to distinguish principles from examples

Treat the task as an external exposition

External emphasis: demands of assessments,

knowledge cut off from everyday reality

(From Ramsden, 2004, p. 47)

Students not only acquire more knowledge and skills when they use deep approaches to study, but

also they maintain what they have memorized for a longer time (Önen, 2015; Veloo, Krishnasamy, &

Harun, 2015). Logically, students who use strategies of VLSs acquire more knowledge and skills and

maintain them for a longer time than those who do not. This is where the hypothesis of this dissertation

comes from, and this is what will be tested in the research.

Ramsden (2004, p. 108-110) mentions three teachers’ theories of teaching at universities;

Teaching as telling or transmission

Teaching as organizing student activity

Teaching as making learning possible.

If the first theory was widely spread in the past, but nowadays is more and more rejected as

ineffective, the second one is linked to classroom management and quite popular today. However,

Ramsden (2004, p.110-112) has shown, that the most effective university teaching theory is teaching

as making learning possible. From this viewpoint, teaching VLSs is more appropriate than just

teaching a certain amount of vocabulary.

1.9. Conclusion to chapter 1

Teaching ESP is a relatively new phenomenon in Georgia. While in the Soviet period the name

was not known, but there existed textbooks in English for mathematicians, doctors, engineers, etc.

However, the language for special purposes was not yet studied well enough, and neither was

developed the methodology of teaching it. This is why those books differed from general English

books mainly by the application of special texts and professional terminology. In the 1990s the

concept of ESP teaching in Georgia was mostly related to teaching Business English. Nowadays the

trend is to develop ESP teaching methodology in general and for particular branches, such as

agriculture, taking into consideration the peculiarity of the sphere.

46

Agriculture, alongside tourism is one of the priorities of economic development in Georgia.

Naturally, the importance of effective teaching of English for agriculture will enable the graduates

majoring in this sphere to be involved in continuous development of their professional knowledge, as

it is possible to become aware of the world innovations in agriculture mostly via the internet the

language of which is mostly English.

The volume of vocabulary involved in any ESP is too large to be taught in a one or two-year

course at university. This is why it is essential not only to teach the basic professional language, but

also to develop students’ abilities to guess the meaning of the unfamiliar vocabulary in the process of

reading and listening, to compensate the lack of vocabulary for production purposes in the process of

speaking and writing, and to enable students to continue the enrichment of their vocabulary stock on

a lifelong basis. This can only be done if language learning strategies and in particular vocabulary

learning strategies are explained, practiced and developed.

Strategic learning is absolutely relevant to the adolescents’ and young adults’ level of mental

development, so teaching learning strategies is adequate for university students. Based on the analysis

held in the chapter, ESP vocabulary learning strategies have to be defined, and relevant activities to

be developed, to provide their effective acquisition by ESP learners.

As contemporary syllabi, textbooks, and activities offered in them contain too little information

on vocabulary learning strategies or activities enabling the person to develop these strategies, new

(modified) syllabi need to be developed in order to better serve these purposes.

To summarize the literature analysis in chapter 1 and to draw logical conclusions from it, a model

of the development of VLSs for ESP (in particular, English for agriculture, strategy explanation and

activities for developing them) was developed by the researcher:

47

Figure 1.1. The model of VLSs development in an ESP course (designed by the researcher)

VLSs for productive skills VLSs for receptive skills

VLSs for Speaking and Writing

VLSs for Listening and Reading

Memorization strategies reciting, rehearsing, answering,

naming, story-telling, dialogues;

grouping, matching, gap-filling,

games, mnemonics, dictionary

application, story and dialogue

writing

repeated listening and reading;

graded readers; graphic organizers

Cognitive strategies Brainstorming as a pre-speaking

and pre-writing activity

Meaning elicitation based on

context, linguistic and background

knowledge

Meta-cognitive strategies Planning one’s speaking and

writing; monitoring (self-editing);

peer and self-assessment with a

rubric

Planning and monitoring one’s

listening and reading; peer and

self-assessment with a key

Social strategies Pair and small group work Pair and small group work

This VLS development model was applied in the experimental group in the process of the

experiment.

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CHAPTER 2. PRACTICAL ISSUES OF SYLLABUS AND MATERIALS

DESIGN IN ESP FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAJORING IN

AGRICULTURE

2.1. Choosing and assessing the ESP textbook

The selection of a relevant course-book is very important for syllabus and course design.

Textbooks are essential for lesson planning and classroom management, they are a sort of a skeleton

on which the actual classes get their flesh. Riazi (2003, p. 52), for instance, mentions that "textbooks

play a very crucial role in the realm of language teaching and learning and are considered the next

important factor in the second/foreign language classroom after the teacher." Hutchinson and Waters

(1987) name six basic aims for ESP materials (including textbooks): (a) providing a stimulus for

learning, (b) helping to organize teaching and learning process, (c) embodying a view of the nature of

language and learning, (d) reflecting the nature of the learning task, (e) offering a very useful function

in broadening the basis of teacher training, and (f) suggesting models of correct and appropriate

language use. ESP textbooks are crucial for those teachers who are not very competent in the content

field, in fact, without teacher’s book and its guidelines, especially keys to drills and assessments, an

English teacher will not be able to teach. Taking into consideration that this competence only comes

with time as well as with content-subject teachers’ support (which may not be provided), an ESP

textbook is a survival tool for very many ESP teachers.

Textbooks are essential for lesson planning and classroom management, they are a sort of a

skeleton on which the actual classes get their flesh. Riazi (2003, p. 52), for instance, mentions that

"textbooks play a very crucial role in the realm of language teaching and learning and are considered

the next important factor in the second/foreign language classroom after the teacher." Hutchinson and

Waters (1987) name six basic aims for ESP materials (including textbooks): (a) providing a stimulus

for learning, (b) helping to organize teaching and learning process, (c) embodying a view of the nature

of language and learning, (d) reflecting the nature of the learning task, (e) offering a very useful

function in broadening the basis of teacher training, and (f) suggesting models of correct and

appropriate language use. ESP textbooks are crucial for those teachers who are not very competent in

the content field, in fact, without teacher’s book and its guidelines, especially keys to drills and

assessments, an English teacher will not be able to teach. Taking into consideration that this

49

competence only comes with time as well as with content-subject teachers’ support (which may not

be provided), an ESP textbook is a survival tool for very many ESP teachers.

To choose a good ESP textbook or, at least, to use the textbook at hand with a maximum

efficiency, teacher intuitions are not sufficient. Many researchers (Cunningsworth, 1995; Ellis, 1997;

Nunan, 1991; Sheldon, 1988) mention the need to have a carefully worked out criteria for any textbook

selection, but this especially concerns the ESP textbooks.

Robinson (1991) and Tomlinson (2003) righteously speak about three stages of textbook

assessment: preliminary, on-going and summative: we may like the textbook when we see it in the

book shop, but in the process of using it, it may reveal some unexpected disadvantages. McDonough

and Shaw (2003) suggest a three-level assessment:

a) external (analogous to preliminary by Robinson, 1991), dealing with correspondence of

the information provided in the foreword and the content page with what is actually

presented in the book

b) internal, dealing with authenticity / semi-authenticity / non-authenticity of reading and

listening materials, types, quantity and quality of drills and activities (may be partly done

before the book is used and partly – while it is used)

c) overall (corresponds to Robinson’s, 1991 summative assessment).

The preliminary assessment has to be done by the teacher with a good check-list at hand. The

on-going and, especially, the summative assessment should be done by students who learn with it and

teachers who teach with it. The questionnaire presented in Baleghizadeh & Rahimi (2011, p. 1012)

involves some items, assessed in Likert scale, suitable for the reason:

The objectives of the textbook match the objectives of the course (a question for teachers)

The textbook is appropriate for the audience (a question for both teachers and students)

The subject matter motivates and interests students (a question for both teachers and students)

The selection and the ordering of the topics is effective and logical (a question for both teachers

and students)

The content corresponds to students’ background knowledge (a question for both teachers and

students)

The book contains the basic vocabulary and grammar.

Presentation of grammar and vocabulary is simple and clear.

Language appears repeatedly.

The textbook is reading-focused, but teaches other communicative skills as well.

50

On the whole the book is attractive.

Tomlinson (2003) mentions that pre-assessment of textbooks is largely intuitive, however, in

this dissertation the researcher believes that, as it has been mentioned, with a good check-list of

characteristics pre-assessment can become more objective. The difference between criteria is not

linked to the assessment stage, but with the possibilities to objectively (e.g., with a Likert scale) to

assess them. Tomlinson offers the following criteria for while-evaluation (assessed according to Likert

scale): clarity of instructions and lay-out, comprehensibility of texts, usefulness and doability of tasks,

achievement of the posed objectives, flexibility of the materials, motivating power of the materials.

On the other hand, for post-application stage he offers open-ended questions, which makes the

assessment relatively subjective. The questions are:

What new things do students know as result of using the materials?

What they still do not know?

What new skills have the learners obtained?

What necessary skills they couldn’t obtain?

Have the materials prepared them for examinations?

Have the materials prepared them for real life needs?

Has learners’ self-confidence increased?

Were students motivated?

Were the materials teacher- and student-friendly?

Did the materials reflect the syllabus?

The researcher’s analysis of the ESP textbook (O’Sullivan & Libbin, 2011) used at the

Agricultural University of Georgia for MA students’ teaching revealed that the book contains

activities for the development of all four communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading and

writing), with an emphasis on reading. The book pays much attention to vocabulary teaching: every

unit includes test-like vocabulary drills, at the end of the book there is a glossary that includes over

400 vocabulary terms and phrases (they belong to general agricultural vocabulary; however, general

English vocabulary and general academic vocabulary is ignored; if the teacher needs to teach the

terminology dealing with students’ narrow specialty, s/he will have to do it on her/his own). Grammar

is completely ignored. The texts in the book do permit to teach the basic vocabulary, but, in fact, are

not professionally informative and do not contain any at least relatively fresh information from the

51

sphere, which makes it unmotivating for students. This is the standard enough structure of an ESP

course-book, so the book is neither better, nor worse other analogous books. It is necessary to mention

that not only the student’s book, but also the teacher’s book does not include any recommendations

or activities for the development of vocabulary learning, so it is difficult to expect that the teacher will

work on the development of these strategies with the students. The tasks suggested (match the term

and the definition, fill in the gaps (combined with multiple choice; while reading or listening),

paraphrases (substitute the definition for the word) just assess the knowledge of the words, they do

not help much their better understanding or memorization.

Based on the assessment issues discussed above plus the focus of this dissertation (strategy-based

vocabulary teaching), a questionnaire for teachers and students was made up to assess the textbook,

to see how the book is adequate generally and especially for vocabulary teaching to make the

researcher’s assessment more objective. The questionnaire for students is a little shorter than for

teachers, as some items beyond student qualification are omitted. The assessment in Likert scale

format (1 – completely disagree, 2 – rather disagree than agree, 3 – have no definite opinion, 4 – rather

agree than disagree, 5 – completely agree) occurred by volunteer teachers (10) and MA students (50).

The percentage of given answers and average results are presented in tables 2.1 and 2.2.

Table 2.1. The assessment of the textbooks by teachers

Item / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 Average

1. Textbook teaching

goals correspond to

the course goals

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

2. Language and

content level is

relevant to students’

knowledge

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

3. Topics are

motivating

- - 20% 20% 60% 4.4

4. Topic order is

logical

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

5. The book contains

the basic vocabulary

and grammar

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

52

6. The presentation

of grammar and

vocabulary is clear

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

7. Language under

study appears

repeatedly

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

8. The book is

reading-centered,

but teaches other

communicative

skills as well

- - - - 100% 5.0

9. Vocabulary

learning strategies

are involved

- - 20% 20% 60% 4.4

10. Instructions and

layout are clear

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

11. The texts do not

contain too much

unfamiliar

vocabulary

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

12. Vocabulary tasks

help memorize and

understand the

meaning of

vocabulary

- - 20% 20% 60% 4.4

13. The book teaches

not only new terms,

but also the relevant

unfamiliar concepts

- - 20% 20% 60% 4.4

14. The book

effectively prepares

students for test

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

15. The material in

the book are

professionally useful

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

16. Students’ self-

confidence has

increased due to the

application of the

textbook

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

17. The book on the

whole is attractive

and motivating

- - - 20% 80% 4.8

53

The respondents’ answers show that teachers are quite satisfied with the books they are using.

There are only few items which got relatively low assessment, these are: topics are motivating,

vocabulary strategies are involved, and the book teaches not only new vocabulary, but also some new

concepts. This completely corresponds to the hypothesis of the dissertation.

Table 2.2. The assessment of the textbooks by students

Item / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 Average

1. Language and

content level is

relevant to students’

knowledge

- - 20% 30% 50% 4.30

2. Topics are

motivating

- - 16% 30% 54% 4.38

3. Topic order is

logical

- - 10% 14% 76% 4.66

4. The book contains

the basic vocabulary

and grammar

- - 16% 24% 60% 4.44

5. The presentation

of grammar and

vocabulary is clear

- - 20% 30% 50% 4.30

6. Language under

study appears

repeatedly

- - 16% 18% 61% 4.50

7. The book is

reading-centered,

but teaches other

communicative

skills as well

- - 10% 16% 74% 4.64

8. Instructions and

layout are clear

- - 12% 18% 70% 4.58

9. The texts do not

contain too much

unfamiliar

vocabulary

- - 22% 36% 42% 4.20

10. Vocabulary tasks

help memorize and

understand the

meaning of

vocabulary

- 8% 8% 34% 50% 3.76

54

11. The book

effectively prepares

students for test

- - 16% 20% 54% 4.48

12. The material in

the book are

professionally useful

- - 4.38

13. Students’ self-

confidence has

increased due to the

application of the

textbook

- - 22% 14% 54% 3.42

14. The book on the

whole is attractive

and motivating

- - 14% 16% 70% 4.56

It is possible to say that students are also to a certain degree satisfied with the textbooks, however,

they are, on the whole, more critical than teachers. The items that the students are least satisfied with

are too much unfamiliar vocabulary and vocabulary tasks being not helpful enough for vocabulary

memorization. This also supports the hypothesis of this dissertation, showing that students are not

sufficiently satisfied with teaching vocabulary.

2.2. Topic, Text, and Vocabulary Selection for the Syllabus

As already mentioned, due to the limitations of volume, not all components of syllabus are

viewed in the dissertation. Such items as course goals and learning outcomes are viewed only from

the point of view of vocabulary teaching. They involve the development of vocabulary skills for

productive purposes (vocabulary taught intentionally for speaking and writing) and the skills of

familiar vocabulary recognition, as well as the elicitation of unfamiliar vocabulary meaning while

listening and reading. They also involve the development of vocabulary memorization and

comprehension strategies. As for teaching and assessment methods, they are not viewed in the

dissertation at all, also due to volume limitations. Only the issues very closely related to vocabulary

teaching are included.

When teachers start developing their ESP materials, they should follow the four basic

principles in ESP material development. They are: suitability for the proficiency level, relevance to

learners' needs, creativity in tasks/activities and discursive strategies, and stimulation of the target

speech acts (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 107-108).

55

Developing appropriate materials takes lots of time and effort, but the end product is usually

something that meets the specific needs of students better than commercial materials. Teachers should

be as flexible as possible at this stage of work and be prepared to adjust and make slight changes in

the course while teaching, so that their course can address students’ interests and needs best.

The topics involved in the syllabus should cover the whole sphere as much as feasible, and not

just some aspects of it. From this point of view the course-book Career Paths. Agriculture (O’Sullivan

& Libbin, 2011) is quite adequate. They should be motivating, for this they need to involve some

innovative information.

The texts have to correspond to the level of students’ background (professional) knowledge.

In fact, they are to some degree lower, which does not support students’ learning motivation. So the

teacher has to link the texts used with more contemporary / actual information. Of course, if the teacher

selects reading passages from subject area texts or articles, s/he will have to develop reading

comprehension activities to accompany them, which is time-consuming, so many teachers will not do

it. The type of questions asked depends on whether the students are reading intensively or extensively.

Questions for intensive reading first ask about concrete information and general ideas. In both types

of reading, questions should be asked about the author's point of view or the student's own opinion of

what was stated in the text. In extensive reading, only comprehension of important points in the story

is assessed, not that of minor details.

Following are some types of comprehension questions:

1) Questions which refer to persons, identification of place, etc. Example: What are some American

products that are recognized for their high quality? (Answer: commercial aircraft, tractors, sheets,

plastics, chemicals, machine tools.)

2) Finding sentences or words that are redundant (that express the same meaning). Example: Find

three words in paragraph five that have the same meaning as the word "company." (Answer:

pacesetters, industries, makers.)

3) Making a list of words which belong to the same category. Example: Find several words in the

article which are used to describe high quality. (Answer: long-wearing, stronger, purer, flawless, etc.)

4) Questions which ask what is being referred to in the text when a reference is made to some other

part of the text. Example: What does "the term" in the first sentence of paragraph six refer to? (Answer:

quality.)

5) Find and underline the sentence (sentences) and key words which express the main idea of the

passage. (Answer: The first sentence of paragraphs two and three; oilseeds)

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6) Outlining. Initially, the teacher can prepare a skeleton outline for the students to fill in. Eventually,

they can prepare their own. The outline should be designed to reveal discourse organization features;

that is, how the author has organized the material. Students should focus on transitions and other

words used to structure the material. The outline should reveal the intent of the writer, and what and

where new information is introduced.

What students need is to develop an ability to notice chunks of different kinds. So, one of the

central activities in ESP teaching is to encourage them to identify language items in authentic

materials. Another important point is that language units should be learned in context. Lexical items

can be, in theory, learned de-contextualized, but it does not ensure mastery of the item. Contextualized

learning is preferable, because learning vocabulary is not a simple memorization of lexical phrases.

They must be integrated into the learner's linguistic resources so that they are spontaneously available

when needed. Vocabulary usage is not the same as its knowledge. And it is a teacher's job to activate

these items in a classroom. This means that learners must process this newly acquired vocabulary.

Therefore, a logical follow-up is a multi-step procedure: 1) checking comprehension of authentic

passages; 2) providing more practice; 3) revision and 4) consolidation. Traditional ‘fill in the blanks'

way is effective for checking comprehension as it encourages learners to consider the context of the

sentence to work out a probable missing word. At the same time, students are being exposed to the

typical linguistic environment for an item. They perceive other words that can co-occur with the target

word and grammatical context in which the item can occur. Oral practice for processing target

vocabulary is advisable. Such activities as students' projects or designing tasks for other groups has

proved beneficial.

The difficulty that emerges when the lexical approach for teaching reading comprehension and

writing summaries is applied is stemmed from students' limited general vocabulary. As already

mentioned, not only narrow field vocabulary should be selected for teaching ESP, but also some,

widely used in ESP texts general English vocabulary, general academic vocabulary, as well as general

field (agriculture) vocabulary. The course-book that was used in the research (O’Sullivan & Libbin,

2011) contains over 400 lexical units belonging to the group of general agricultural vocabulary,

presented in the book as a glossary with definitions, so the researcher considered this selection good

enough. In order not to increase the burden on the students, the general English and the general

academic English vocabulary was selected (and further practiced) from the texts in the course-book.

As for narrow special vocabulary, students had to deal with it only independently while preparing

their papers and presentations (teacher’s assistance was provided upon individual student requests).

57

Since there are so many things to learn about each piece of vocabulary (meaning,

spoken/written forms, collocations, connotations, grammatical behavior, derivational structure, etc.)

it is important that teachers only introduce a little at a time, starting with the most frequent, useful,

and learnable vocabulary, and returning later to more difficult vocabulary and less frequent uses of

previously learned items. It is necessary to revise vocabulary regularly, because students must work

with a word or phrase many times before acquisition takes place, and variety should be provided to

keep the exercises fresh and to cater to different learning styles. Finally, teachers need to help students

understand that learning is a gradual process that takes place in small, manageable increments over

time, and to encourage them to seek additional information on their own, personalizing the learning

experience and tailoring it to their own specific needs.

The more attention learners pay to the meaning of the language they hear or read, the more they

are successful. In ESP vocabulary should be presented in authentic contexts to make the learners

acquainted with the particular ways in which the language is used in functions that they will need to

perform in their fields of specialty or jobs. Knowledge of the subject area enables the students to

identify a real context for the vocabulary and structures of the ESP classroom. In such a way, the

learners can take advantage of what they already know about the subject matter to learn English. An

ESP program is therefore built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which

English is required.

ESP concentrates more on vocabulary in context than on teaching grammar. The ESP focal point

is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it

is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners. In fact, as a general rule, while in

ESL all four language skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing - are stressed equally, in ESP it

is a needs analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the students, and the

syllabus is designed accordingly.

ESP assesses needs and integrates motivation, subject matter and content for the teaching of

relevant skills. However, there is something to be said for having students use context clues to

determine the meanings of new words themselves, but it can also be problematic. If students guess a

word’s meaning incorrectly, then later, after the teacher has given them the correct meaning and sent

them home, they may forget which meaning was correct. This happens because students go through a

specific thought process to infer a word’s meaning. It is a process that makes a logical sense to them,

and when something makes a logical sense, it is very difficult to convince the brain that it is wrong.

58

Using context clues is a great reading skill, but while teaching vocabulary, it is best to focus on

vocabulary and save the reading skills for another time.

Course evaluation is important in ESP pedagogy because it gathers the evidence to understand

the effectiveness of the course in terms of the skill enhancement of learners. It is the last, but not the

least important stage for teachers because it helps to improve and promote the effectiveness of their

course.

In the research in this dissertation the evaluation was done in two different ways: implicitly

and explicitly. Implicit evaluation took place during the semester. Students gave the researcher clues

on their progress by completing various online tests and exercises and participating during the classes.

Through numerous online exercises and tests sources and areas of difficulties were diagnosed. Explicit

evaluation took place at the end of the course when students were asked to express their attitudes

towards the course and fill in the online questionnaire. The obtained results gave the researcher an

insight into the effectiveness of the course.

2.3. Developing Vocabulary Memorization Strategies

The activities in this and next two sub-chapters have been either modified from the existing

ones to permit to develop strategies or developed by the researcher. The strategies involved are

explained by the teacher. The variety of the activity types motivates learning and creates more

associations, which makes vocabulary skills more flexible and stronger.

Activity 1. The teacher asks the students to repeat aloud only those sentences in the listening text

which contain the target words (the list provided). The teacher makes a pause after each sentence, so

it is up to the students which sentence to repeat. The activity is done in the whole-class format. The

task permits to check the recognition of the target words in the process of listening, to practice their

pronunciation, and to concentrate attention on the words. Instead of the words cards with

corresponding pictures may be used, in that case students will need to recollect the target words. This

variant of the activity is especially useful for visual learners. To develop the word recognition strategy,

the students are recommended to pronounce the isolated words (a couple of times each) before

listening, to forecast before the listening activity, in what contexts the words may come.

Activity 2. The students are asked to group the given words:

59

a) as general English words, general academic words, general agricultural words and words

dealing with narrow agricultural specialties (specialties named);

b) according to the topic

c) in a net of words collocating with each other

The activity is done in pairs or small (3-4 students) groups. The goal of the activity is to involve

cognitive and metacognitive strategies. In variant ‘c’ students deal with productive application of

words, so we can ask them, after making up a spidergramme with the given word in the centre, make

up their own sentences with the given collocations. To develop the grouping strategy, the students

may be recommended to remember in what kind of / which texts they have come across the given

words. For example, based on the text about beekeeping (O’Sullivan & Libbin, 20111, p. 16), students

can make up the following corpus of words used with the word ‘bee’:

Figure 2.1. Spidergram sample (developed by the researcher)

Activity 3. Games (cross-words puzzle, wheel of fortune) stimulate word recollection. They are held

in the whole-class format. Some additional cues may be given, if the students fail to recollect the target

word. This will help students develop the relevant strategy. Readymade and teacher-made games can

be used, also students may be asked to make up the puzzles themselves, including the definitions. In

this case the activity is very creative and thus motivating. The goal is to establish stronger associations

between words and their meanings.

Activity 4. Word cards made by the teacher or especially students support the memorization of the

vocabulary. The activity format may be whole-class or small group work. The cards made for previous

lessons can be reused, to provide sufficient repetition. The target word is on one side, while the picture

representing it, a sentence making its meaning clear, a typical collocation or translation may be on the

bee

beekeeping

beekeeper

beehive frames

honey

honeycomb

beesuits

60

other side. Students may be recommended to use translation only when the word is monosemantic as

a term. They need to be explained how to choose / make up the sentences which contain enough

context for the comprehension of the words. The activity may be game-like (mixing the cards and

picking them up at random). It can be held individually as homework, in pairs or small groups in class.

These cards (the other side) may be used to help students when they get stuck in the process of

speaking activities.

Activity 5. Discussion on the topic studied. The format is whole-class. The teacher or one of the

students serve as a DJ, questions are prepared to entail the target words in the short answers. When

the questions are prepared by a student, s/he is asked to do so beforehand, at home. It stimulated the

development of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies.

Activity 6. Story-telling in chain. The format is whole-class. The teacher asks the students to tell a

story recently shown on the television (probably, in students’ native language) and seen by everybody

or in the short video viewed in class, concerning this or that aspect of agriculture, as a chain (one

student says one sentence). The students are requested to use the target vocabulary where feasible.

The words may be written as a reminder on the board. Images and speech form associations needed

for better memorization.

Activity 7. Gap-filling, using pictures (inserting the relevant words). The format may be individual

(at home), pair or small group work. Also filling in the missing letters in the words, based on the

context. The activity permits to practice word spelling, also forecasting based on the context. Students

are explained how to find in the context the cues that will help them to recognize the word.

Activity 8. Students are asked to bring to class some micro-texts (1-2 paragraphs) found by them on

the internet in which at least 3 of the target words are used. Then the texts are read by the partners in

the pair or small groups, and they answer questions focusing on the given words. The goal is assessing

the word/context relationships (whether the key words used for searching the texts on the internet are

the needed words, whether the context is adequate).

Activity 9. Role play: journalists preparing a 5-10-minute program on agricultural news. The activity

should be prepared at home and the outcomes – presented in class. Students may use the mass-media

materials, including the ones in their native language (in this case they will need to translate the text).

Using the words under study is a requirement. A competition may be held between the teams preparing

61

the news (the winner will use more target words, pronounce them correctly). In this activity student

will apply the target vocabulary for a real-life activity.

Activity 10. The teacher asks the students in pairs or small groups to make up various graphic

organizers in the process of and after listening / reading, based on the same root or other morphemes,

collocation ability, theme, or lexico-semantic group. They are explained where to look for the words,

included the texts studied and the drills fulfilled and language activator dictionary. Students need to

be presented the advantages and the drawbacks of various types of dictionaries. Experience shows

that not only students, but also teachers do not know about thesauruses and language activators. These

graphic organizers can be later used for fast revision.

Activity 11. Hang cards with the words that you have problem in memorizing in a place, where your

eye often drops by chance every day. This may be done at home or in class. There may be a board in

the class with the most difficult word of the week / month. The class together with the teacher may

together decide which word(s) will be written on the board.

2.4. Developing vocabulary application strategies

To use the vocabulary under study, students should start from easier activities (like writing

their own text, using as a model the text suggested by the textbook or teacher) and continue with more

difficult ones. It is essential to explain to them that they should not stick to the particular words if they

cannot recollect or simply do not know them. An informal, self-made definition or a description will

help them carry out communication and express their own ideas. Then their interlocutor may prompt

them the needed word. In that case it is usually well memorized.

Activity 1. Fill in the gaps by choosing the right word. The words offered for choice may be different

parts of speech with the same root (to provide that the students realize the place and function of the

word in the sentence) or synonyms / nearly synonyms. The format may vary from individual (at hoe)

to pair and small group or even whole-class. While participating in the activity together with peers,

students can share each other’s choice strategies and practice them.

Activity 2. Substitution tables and sentence completion. The format may be any, from individual to

whole-class. Substitution tables just permit to use the correct sentence structure and not to think about

(but practice) the correct grammar.

62

Activity 3. If students do not know the translation of the L1 word which they think they need, they

may experiment with cognates, as many terms are international words and are recognizable for the

native interlocutor (his role can be played by the teacher or m more knowledgeable students), like

‘These are made of …. [keramika?] – Ceramics. – Right, they are made of ceramics’. The format of

the activity is pair or small group work.

Activity 4. If students do not know the word they need, they may describe the appearance, function,

colour, material, etc. until the interlocutor guesses the necessary word. The format of the activity is

pair or small group work.

Activity 5. Using a bilingual dictionary to prepare a public speech (e.g., a presentation for a student

conference) or to write an essay, letter, or article. Students should be explained that they should not

take the very first L2 equivalent they come across, but need to choose the equivalent according to the

field and the context. The activity may be carried out individually (at home) or in a pair or group, but

the second way normally yields more adequate translations.

Activity 6. Snowball / avalanche. The activity is held as a whole-class one. One student says a word

under study. The next student has to say something about it, such as: ‘Barn – People keep domestic

animals in barns.’ The still next adds some more information linked to the topic and the vocabulary

studies, such as: “The temperature in the barn should be comfortable enough and not exceed the

critical one” (see O’Sullivan & Libbin, 2011, p. 24).

Activity 7. Pre-speaking and pre-writing activities, such as brainstorming of the useful information

and vocabulary. This activity should be done in the whole-class format. Simple lists of words useful

for the topic / task may be made up, also graphic organizers that are hierarchical, webs, matrices, or

charts.

Activity 8. Writing a plan for a speech of a dialogue by key words only, then holding the monologue

or the dialogue. The speech is done by one speaker in front of the public (whole class), while the

dialogue may be done just in a pair or in front of the whole class.

Activity 9. Making up a story, using the words under study. To squeeze all the words in the story is

rather artificial, but may be used to create a humorous story, with a rather absurd, but funny contents.

The activity may be held individually, in pairs or small groups.

63

2.5. Developing vocabulary meaning elicitation strategies

Vocabulary enrichment through reading requires from the students to be able to notice the

unfamiliar lexical units (words or phrases), choosing the strategy to elicit its meaning, forming a

hypothesis and then checking the hypothesis by its appropriateness to the field, topic and context. It

is essential that students can define key words in the sentence, paragraph or text. Then, based on the

key word, they may build up frames in which cognate words, synonyms, definitions and paraphrases,

typical collocations are united. This will largely help them elicit the meaning of the target word.

Think-aloud should be an important part of these activities, so that students not only understand and

remember the new words, but also improve, enrich and develop their VLSs.

Activity 1. Students classify grammatically the target words, as well as words preceding or following

the word in bold (italics). To find the collocated words and to define their grammatical meaning,

students should be able to ask relevant questions, such as: “Each bull has a detailed sire summary and

complete pedigree” (O’Sullivan & Libbin, 20111, p. 26). Every bull has what? – summary and

pedigree. What kind of summary do they have? – sire. What is important for breeding animals? – their

genealogy. What do you think, what may “sire” mean? – Their genealogy (parents’ breeds). This

activity permits to deal with the grammatical aspect of words, which permits to partly compensate the

lack of attention towards grammar in the textbook. After this students can make more qualified

guesses on word meaning.

Activity 2. Eliciting word meaning and offering a L1 translation based on the knowledge of affixes.

For example, the meaning of ‘combine harvesters’ and ‘gleaners’ (O’Sullivan & Libbin, 20111, p. 32)

can be calculated, based on the knowledge of the earlier studied roots and the meaning of the suffix

“er” standing for a tool or a piece of equipment.

Activity 3. Students are given 3-4 sentences containing the target word. They have to identify the

meaning of the word based on the context. One sentence may be insufficient to make a good guess,

this is why several sentences are offered.

Activity 4. Dealing with types of words in collocations. The activity should be fulfilled in pairs or

small groups to share each other’s strategies and knowledge and benefit from them To elicit the

meaning of an adjective / attribute of a noun, for example, students need to realize that they may deal

with the colour, shape, size, and function. Then, based on this and the background knowledge and the

meaning of the whole text, students can make qualified guesses:

64

Activity 5. While listening / reading, writing down unfamiliar words, and then asking peers for help.

The activity is held in pairs or small groups. The students should make the guesses based on words’

grammatical form and place in the sentence, on the collocations, word structure, background

knowledge and the whole text contents. Some discussion may be done in the students’ native language.

The activity stimulates the development of cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies.

Activity 6. Using a monolingual dictionary to understand the meaning of the unfamiliar word in the

process of reading. May be done in individual format or as pair or small group work. Using it in a pair

or small group increases the probability of eliciting the meaning and develops the eliciting strategies.

Activity 7. Interpreting the word in a micro-text read or heard. The easier way is to fulfil it as a

multiple-choice task (the pair and the group may discuss how to make the choice, which choice to

discard). The more difficult variant is to try to guess the meaning of the given word, based on the

context and situation (for example, the speaker role, the place where the communication occurs).

2.6. Developing a Syllabus in English for Agriculture, Emphasizing VLSs

For the purposes of teaching English for agriculture at the Agricultural University of Georgia

the following syllabus has been developed by the researcher according to the university requirements

and approved by the corresponding university structures.

Unfortunately, the researcher could not use a different course-book from the one approved by

the university, so the modification concerned adapting the existing course-book to the research

findings:

Topic selection (not all topics from the book were included, but only the ones that

students found useful and interesting; some were added on their request).

Text selection (not all texts from the book were included, but only the ones that

students found useful and interesting; some were added on their request).

The researcher used the glossary suggested by the course-book (about 400 words),

which includes general agricultural vocabulary, but added to it a glossary of general

English vocabulary often used to speak about agriculture, general academic

vocabulary, and specific (according to students’ narrow specialty) vocabulary.

65

Vocabulary strategies for, on the one hand, reading, listening, speaking and writing,

and, on the other hand, for memorization, cognition, meta-cognition and socialization.

Academic year: 2015/2016, spring semester

Course: English (for Agriculture)

Status: Compulsory

Credits: 5 ECTS (4 contact hours per week, 15 study weeks)

Level: MA

The goal of the course: to have students acquainted with terminology of the sphere, to develop their

skills to communicate in English for professional purposes (listening, speaking, reading and writing).

Prerequisite requirements: minimum B2 level of general English skills

Learning outcomes:

Knowledge and understanding: 400 lexical units in the field

Applying knowledge: Ability to use English for the purposes of professional development and

professional application

Communications skills: Ability to communicate on professional issues in English (B2 level)

Learning skills: Ability to be involved in continuous study of agricultural English

Teaching methods: interactive classes, with students’ active involvement in activities; PBL (problem-

based learning), PPP (presentation, practice, production); ESA (engage, study, activate)

Assessment:

Final assessment – 25 points

Presentation – 10 points

Involvement – 15 points

Midterm exams: 15+15 points

Homework – 10 points

Assessment scale

66

assessment description grades

grade points

A Excellent 91 – 100 3.39 – 4.0

B Very good 81 – 90 2.78 – 3.38

C Good 71 – 80 2.17 – 2.77

D Satisfactory 61 – 70 1.56 – 2.16

E Enough 51 – 60 1.0 – 1.55

FX

Failure, which means that student has

to work more to pass the course, is

given additional independent work

hours and is admıtted to the exam one

more time.

41 – 50 0

F

Failure, which means that work

hours for the student ın this course is

not enough and he should retake this

course.

0 - 40 0

Compulsory literature: Neil O’Sullivan, James D. Libbin, 2011, Career Paths: Agriculture,

Express Publishing.

Course content

week Contact hours Topic Home assignment

1

Interactive class

1-2

Meeting & Greeting

Book 1

Unit 1: The history of agriculture Pp. 4- 5

Speaking: reviewing language for talking

about agriculture (Teacher presenting VLSs

for memorization)

Listening: sentence completion techniques

Vocabulary: effective methods of recording

vocabulary (Practicing VLSs for

memorization)

Internet research

67

Reading: skimming, scanning, working out the

meaning of words from context (Teacher

presenting VLSs for reading comprehension)

Unit 2: Plant products Pp. 6-7

Speaking: talking about agriculture and local

farmers (Practicing VLSs for memorization)

Listening: sentence completion techniques,

matching exercise (Teacher presenting VLSs

for listening comprehension)

Vocabulary: matching exercise (Practicing

VLSs for memorization)

Reading: working out the meaning of words

from context (Practicing VLSs for reading

comprehension)

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 3: Animal products. Pp.8-9

Vocabulary: words connected with material;

(Practicing VLSs for memorization and

cognition)

Listening: identify true and false ideas

(Practicing VLSs for listening comprehension

and for meta-cognition)

Writing: product description (Teacher

presenting VLSs for writing and for

socialization)

Unit 4: Soil. Pp.10-11

Vocabulary: words connected with weather;

(Practicing VLSs for memorization and

cognition)

Speaking: role play / a dialogue;

(Practicing VLSs for speaking and for

socialization)

Listening: gap filling exercise;

Write product description

68

(Practicing VLSs for listening comprehension

and for meta-cognition)

Writing: report

(Practicing VLSs for writing, meta-cognition

and for socialization)

2

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 5: water Pp. 12-13

Speaking: introducing the theme of the unit

(Practicing VLSs for speaking and for

socialization)

Listening: multiple-choice task

(Practicing VLSs for listening comprehension,

cognition and meta-cognition)

Vocabulary: words connected with weather;

(Practicing VLSs for memorization, cognition

and meta-cognition)

Reading: working out the meaning of words

from context

(Practicing VLSs for cognition and meta-

cognition)

Unit 6: Seeds. Pp.14-15

Vocabulary: (1) formation of nouns, adverbs

& adjectives; (2) words connected with

entertainment;

(Practicing VLSs for cognition)

Listening: understanding what to listen for

(Practicing VLSs for listening comprehension,

cognition and meta-cognition)

Writing: receipt

(Practicing VLSs for writing, meta-cognition

and for socialization)

Internet research

69

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 7: Plant growth Pp. 16-17

Vocabulary: functions

(Practicing VLSs for memorization and

cognition)

Exam Focus: Reading (additional assignment)

(Practicing VLSs for reading comprehension,

cognition and meta-cognition)

Speaking: practicing the language of

comparison

(Practicing VLSs for speaking, cognition and

for socialization)

Writing: informal letter or e-mail

Practicing VLSs for writing, meta-cognition

and for socialization)

Unit 8: Harvest. Pp.18-19

Vocabulary: (1) formation of nouns, adverbs

& adjectives; (2) words connected with

agriculture;

(Practicing VLSs for memorization and

cognition)

Listening: understanding what to listen for

(Practicing VLSs for listening comprehension,

cognition and meta-cognition)

Writing: fill out crop record

(Practicing VLSs for writing, meta-cognition

and for socialization)

Informal letter

3

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 9: Storage Pp. 20-21

Reading: introduction to the gapped text task

Vocabulary: using dictionaries as a learning

resource

Listening: multiple matching

Speaking: useful expressions for reacting to

what somebody says

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Formal letter

70

Unit 10: Food and nutrients. Pp.22-23

Vocabulary: words connected with food;

functions;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: formal e-mail

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 11: Housing animals Pp. 24-25

Exam focus: procedure for completing the

multiple-choice cloze task

Listening: answering multiple-choice

questions

Vocabulary: the use of modifiers with

gradable/non-gradable adjectives

Writing: letter

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Unit 12: Breeding. Pp.26-27

Vocabulary: words connected with animals;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: formal e-mail

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Internet research

4

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 13: Slaughter and processing Pp. 28-29

Vocabulary: (1) words related to food and

diet; (2) dependent prepositions;

Listening: sentence completion

Exam Focus: Reading __ multiple-choice

questions

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Unit 14: Cultivation & Planting equipment.

Pp.30-31

Vocabulary: (1) formation of nouns, adverbs

& adjectives;

Listening: gap filling exercise;

summary

71

Writing: summary

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 15: Harvest equipment. Pp.32-33

Vocabulary: (1) formation of nouns, adverbs

& adjectives;

Listening: complete the conversation

Writing: report

(Selecting the useful strategies, when needed)

Book 2

Unit 1: Beef industry. Pp.4-5

Vocabulary: words connected with industry;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

report

5

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 2: Swine industry. Pp.6-7

Vocabulary: words connected with industry;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

Unit 3: Poultry industry. Pp.8-9

Vocabulary: (1) formation of nouns, adverbs

& adjectives;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: formal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

Informal letter

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 4: Diary industry. Pp.10-11

Vocabulary: words connected with industry;

Article

72

Listening: multiple choice

Writing: informal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

Unit 5: Sheep Inductry Pp. 12-13

Use of English: technique for completing

cloze texts

Reading: gapped text; lexical links between

parts of a text

Vocabulary: words related to industry;

Speaking: language for discussing advantages

& disadvantages

Writing: making a good article

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

6

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 6: Equine industry. Pp.14-15

Vocabulary: words connected with industry;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

Unit 7: Apiculture. Pp.16-17

Vocabulary: words connected with apiculture;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

(Selecting and discussing the useful strategies,

when needed)

Internet research

Midterm exam 1

3-4

Progress test 1

73

7

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 8: Classification and Composition.

Pp.18-19

Vocabulary: words connected with

classification;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 9 : Salts and Acidity Pp. 20-21

Listening: Multiple matching

Exam Focus: Use of English __ key word

transformation

Vocabulary: vocabulary connected with

acidity

Speaking: expressing uncertainty when

describing a photo

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Informal letter

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 10: The nitrogen cycle. Pp.22-23

Vocabulary: words connected with nitrogen

cycle;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 11: Soil Conservation Pp. 24-25

Review

74

Vocabulary: common words related to modern

technology

Listening: (1) idiomatic expressions in the

text; (2) listening for specific information;

Use of English: word formation

Reading: focusing on idiomatic expressions in

the text

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

8

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 12: Preparing, Seeding and planting.

Pp.26-27

Vocabulary: words connected with seeding

and planting;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Writing: informal e-mail

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 13: Climate and weather Pp.28-29

Listening: alternative way of expressing ideas

Vocabulary: vocabulary related to general

subject areas

Exam focus: procedure for the open cloze

Reading: exam-style multiple matching task

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Internet research

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 14: Pricing. Pp.30-31

Vocabulary: words connected with pricing;

Listening: understanding what to listen for

Memo

75

Writing: informal e-mail

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 15: Government interventionPp. 32-

33

Speaking: practicing the language

Vocabulary: common collocations

Writing: memo

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

9

Interactive class

1-2

Book 3

Unit 1: Animal behavior Pp. 1-2

Speaking: practicing the language of farming

listening : gap filling exercise

Vocabulary: common collocations

Use of English: multiple-choice cloze

Writing: application letter

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 2: Animal health Pp. 2-3

Speaking: practicing the language of

conditionals

Vocabulary: common collocations

listening: multiple-choice cloze

Writing: medical treatment plan

Writing: planning and writing a review

Application letter

76

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 3: Animals and grain Pp. 4-5

Reading: multiple-choice questions

Speaking: topic of dialogue – animal

Vocabulary: functions

Writing: article

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Unit 4: Bioengineering Pp. 6- 7

Listening: (sentence completion)

Speaking: how to keep talking and adding

ideas

Writing: write notes

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

Internet research

10

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 5: Cropping systems Pp. 8-9

Reading: gapped text

Vocabulary: functions

Listening: matching exercise

Writing: schedule

Writing: planning and writing a review

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

schedule

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 6: Growing seasons Pp. 10-11

Vocabulary: vocabulary related to things at

home

Report

77

Grammar: the form and use of reduced

relative clauses

Use of English: exam-style key word

transformation

Speaking: stressing key information

Writing: planning and writing a report

(While working in group, summing up the

strategies used, then presenting them to the

class)

11

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 7: Weeds, pests, and disease Pp. 12-13

Listening: exam-style sentence completion

task

Vocabulary: functions

Reading: official letter

Review

(Summing up the strategies used)

Internet research

Midterm exam 2 Progress test

12

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 8: Diagnosing crop problems Pp. 14-

15

Speaking: dialogue discussing crop problems;

Vocabulary: words & expression related to

work

Reading: multiple matching

Writing: e-mail

Internet research

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 9 : Agribusiness management Pp. 16-

17

Vocabulary: vocabulary connected with

business

Listening: multiple-choice questions

Financial summary

78

Writing: financial summary

13

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 10: International trade Pp. 18-19

Reading: reading for gist and detail

Writing: formal letter

Vocabulary: words connected with

international trade

Speaking: international trade

Listening: (1) sentence completion; (2)

listening for specific information

Formal letter

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 11: The future market Pp. 20-21

Reading: reading for gist and detail

Vocabulary: words connected with

international trade

Writing: formal letter

Internet research

14

Interactive class

1-2

Unit 12 : Sustainable farming Pp. 22- 23

Reading: multiple matching

Vocabulary: nouns, verbs and idioms

connected with animals

Speaking: pets

Use of English: multiple-choice cloze

Listening: role-playing an interview with a

famous conservationist

Unit 13: Technological advances Pp. 24-25

Reading: identifying truth and fails

Vocabulary: language connected with

technological advances

Speaking: individual long turn

Formal letter

79

Writing: writing an formal letter

Interactive class

3-4

Unit 14: Organic farming Pp.26-27

Speaking: lead-in to reading

Reading: multiple-choice questions

Vocabulary: language used to talk about

organic farming

Listening: multiple matching

Reading: completing a gapped test task

Writing: report

Unit 15: GMOs Pp. 28-29

Vocabulary: vocabulary related to the topic

Speaking: role play

Listening: matching

Writing: product description

Internet research

Report

15

Student

presentations

-

17-19

Final assessment Achievement test

It is necessary to comment that the prerequisite requirement is formally B2 level, which should

be the level of the language skills reached after Bachelor studies. Unfortunately, as the passing grade

of the unified national admission to the Bachelor studies exams is low, in fact, many of the admitted

students have an A2 level, which does not permit them to reach the B2 level expected from graduates

of a Bachelor program.

80

This syllabus corresponds to the contemporary requirements, what is more, it does involve

some strategy development. It was followed for the control group during the experiment, while it was

modified, with more emphasis on vocabulary learning strategies for the experimental group.

It is easy to see that during first several classes teacher presents various VLSs step by step,

then students practice the application of a particular VLS. Then VLSs are practiced in groups (such

as reading: cognitive and meta-cognitive or writing: meta-cognitive and socializing) – students

practice the strategies recently presented by the teacher. Then students independently choose the

strategies and discuss them in pairs or small groups. Further they discuss the strategies used and each

pair/group presents their findings. The last stage purposefully does not mention dealing with

strategies, as students apply them upon necessity, not as special activities.

The modifications introduced by the researcher concern the following issues (in bold letters)

are as follows:

The goal of the course: To have students acquainted with terminology of the sphere, to develop

their skills to communicate in English for professional purposes (listening, speaking, reading and

writing), to develop students’ VLSs in order to make the communication more effective and to

provide lifelong learning of English

Knowledge and understanding: productive knowledge of 400 lexical units in the field, VLSs

Week 1: Vocabulary: effective methods of recording vocabulary (keeping a personal dictionary);

words connected with material and weather; existing dictionary types and strategies of their

application

Week 2: Vocabulary: words connected with weather, functions and agriculture; formation of nouns,

adverbs & adjectives; understanding unfamiliar derived words with familiar roots

Week 3: Vocabulary: using dictionaries as a learning resource; words connected with food, animals

and functions, the use of modifiers with gradable/non-gradable adjectives; using grammatical

knowledge for meaning elicitation

Week 4: Vocabulary: words related to food, diet and industry; (2) dependent prepositions; mnemonics

Week 5: Vocabulary: words connected with industry; graphic organizers, vocabulary classification

Week 6: Vocabulary: words connected with apiculture; using flashcards instead of word-lists for

memorization

81

Week 7: Vocabulary: words connected with classification, acidity and nitrogen cycle; defining key

words; making up a plan based on key words

Week 8: Vocabulary: words connected with seeding and planting, pricing, collocations; eliciting

word meaning based on collocation

Week 9: Vocabulary: collocations and functions; description and paraphrasing as compensation

strategies

Week 10: Vocabulary: vocabulary related to things at home; forecasting / anticipation strategy

Week 11: Vocabulary: functions; application of immediate context (sentence) for word-meaning

elicitation

Week 12: Vocabulary: words & expression related to work and business; using the cognates from

L1 for meaning comprehension and as a compensation strategy

Week 13: Vocabulary: words connected with international trade; self-monitoring strategies

Week 14: Vocabulary: nouns, verbs and idioms connected with animals, organic farming and

technological advances, application of subject knowledge for word-meaning elicitation

2.7. Conclusion to Chapter 2

Existing textbooks applied in Georgia and corresponding practices for teaching English for

agriculture were analyzed. The results revealed that on the whole certain achievements have been

reached, however, problems still exist. Not only students, but also some teachers are unaware of the

necessity of teaching VLSs, students’ strategies are often intuitive, not numerous and do not

correspond to their age abilities (are on a low cognitive level).

Ways to improve the syllabus by making it more student-centered and strategy-based have

been developed in the dissertation. If chapter one classifies VLSs as those that serve receptive

(listening, reading) and productive skills (speaking, writing), in this chapter VLSs are grouped as

vocabulary memorization, vocabulary application (= serving productive skills) and vocabulary

meaning elicitation (= serving receptive skills) strategies. Some known activities to serve the purposes

have been modified, and some new activities have been suggested.

82

Figure 2.2. shows vocabulary learning strategies-based ESP syllabus and materials design,

suggested in the dissertation.

Figure 2.2. Vocabulary Learning Strategies-Based ESP Syllabus and Materials Design

(designed by the researcher)

Assessing students’ needs via questionnaire or informal talk; analyzing the results

Choosing a course-book corresponding to students’ needs. It involves existing course-book analysis

according to:

Syllabus design, based on:

4 layers of ESP

vocabulary

Language acquisition

activities

Professionally useful

content (topics) Student motivation

Text selection Vocabulary selection Topic selection Language learning

strategies

83

CHAPTER III. EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED AT THE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

OF GEORGIA TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS

Ax it has been mentioned in the introduction, the goals of this doctoral dissertation were:

to the clarify the term “vocabulary learning strategy” and to offer a typology of such strategies

(fulfilled in sub-chapter 1.4);

to analyze the existing literature on the issue of strategies-based syllabus and materials design

for teaching ESP vocabulary to university students (sub-chapter 1.7);

to measure the efficiency of teaching agricultural English (sub-chapter 2.1);

to develop a corresponding syllabus for teaching English for agriculture (sub-chapters 2.2-

2.7);

to test the efficiency of the developed syllabus and materials (to be done in chapter 3).

In this chapter it is also necessary to test the hypothesis of the dissertation, namely, to form

two groups, the traditional and the experimental one, which would be about the same size, involve

students of approximately the same age who possess approximately the same level of English skills,

use the same course-book (O’Sullivan & Libbin, 2011) for their development, spend equal time on

learning English for agriculture and differ only in:

Table 3.1. Difference between teaching in the control and experimental groups

Control group Experimental group

Teaching only general agricultural terminology Teaching three layers of vocabulary (general

vocabulary often applied in agricultural texts,

general agricultural vocabulary, and narrow

(dealing with particular student’s areas of

specialization) specialty vocabulary

Fulfillment of vocabulary activities without an

emphasis of VLSs

Purposefully developing VLSs, including them

in vocabulary activities

Traditional, university-approved syllabus (non-

strategy-based)

Experimental syllabus (strategy-based)

3.1. Background Information

This study was conducted at the Agricultural University of Georgia in Tbilisi, Georgia during

the third semester of 2015-2016 academic years. The University hosts more than 600 students in 13

84

bachelor’s degree and 4 master’s degree programs and there are 12 instructors teaching English. Most

of them teach General English but 4 of them teach ESP English. Only English is taught as a

compulsory foreign language. The teachers possess corresponding qualifications and certificates to

teach ESP English. The number of the learners in each class is around 22, thus making classes

manageable. The University has a computer laboratory and each class is equipped with one computer,

one overhead projector and a sound system for listening and video-based activities. BA students take

general English courses, to reach B2 level (which, however, is achieved only for students whose level

at admission was B1; other students usually achieve the b1 level). Those BA students who initially

have B1 level take an English for Agriculture course.

All MA students whose foreign language is English take 4 hours of English for Agriculture

each week (the duration of the class is 60 minutes) of the second (spring) semester, generally taught

by one teacher at the time of the study. The syllabus is developed by the department for teachers after

a procedure of general discussion. Students’ and graduates’ opinions are taken into consideration.

The University academic calendar of the spring semester is between the beginning of March

and mid-June. The experiment began at the beginning of the third semester in March and lasted for

15 weeks. A permission to conduct the experiment was obtained from the university administration

(see in the appendix). All students who participated in the experiment expressed an oral agreement to

be part of it. They also knew any of them could quit the experiment any moment if they believed it

was somehow harmful for their studies.

To see how efficient the teaching of English at the Agricultural University of Georgia is, a study

involving 107 BA students, voluntarily participating in the survey questionnaire, was held. The

numbers in table 3.2 and 3.3 from 0 to 4 are a Likert scales assessment, which means that 0 – totally

unimportant, 1 – important to a low degree, 2 – somehow important, 3 – rather important, 4 –

important, and 5 – very important.

The detailed results and analysis have been published in Tskhvitava (2016). Here one can see

table 3.2. presenting the statistic results.

Table 3.2. Assessment / rating questions/ results (107 respondents, however, some of them

skipped some questions / items)

# question 0 1 2 3 4 Mean

rating

1 How effective is the book you

study in terms of vocabulary

learning?

2% 3% 45.5% 26.3% 23.2% 3.1

85

2 How effective are the vocabulary

exercises in the textbook and the

ones used by your teacher to

enrich your vocabulary?

1% 4.1% 32.7% 30.6% 31.6% 3.0

3 Rate the

importance of

the type of

vocabulary that

should be part

of your course.

General

vocabulary

2.7% 1.3% 26.7% 57.3% 12% 2.9

General

academic

vocabulary

6.7% 2.7% 33.3% 41.3% 16% 2.8

General

agricultural

vocabulary

11.7% 11.7% 36.4% 23.4% 16.9% 2.1

Vocabulary

according to

my narrow

specialty in

agriculture

9.7% 12.9% 25.8% 40.9% 10.8% 2.3

4 Rate the type of

vocabulary

exercises

according to

efficiency

Gap filling 3.5% 7.1% 23.5% 34.1% 31.8% 2.7

Matching 2.3% 14.1% 17.7% 37.7% 28.2% 3.4

Grouping and

classifying

4.8% 8.3% 25% 27.4% 34.5% 2.8

Making up

collocations /

sentences

4.9% 8.5% 13.4% 31.7% 41.5% 3.0

Interpreting the

word in the

listening /

reading text

(multiple

choice)

3.5% 9.4% 12.9% 30.6% 43.5% 3.0

5 To what extent do you have the

skills to identify the key words in

the text?

1.1% 7.5% 33% 44.7% 13.8% 2.6

(see Tskhvitava, 2016, p. 135-136)

According to the survey results, the students of the Agricultural University of Georgia who

participated in the research to a certain degree like the books they study with (item 1: 3.1 points in a

5-point Likert scale, from 0 to 4) and the vocabulary exercises (item 2: mean 3.0 and item 4: means

86

2.7-3.4). In this scale a result above 2.5 is a high (positive) result. This means that the books are

acceptable, but could be more useful. The respondents would like to learn, quite proportionately,

general English, general academic English, general Agricultural English and narrow (according to

their specialization) special English vocabulary (item 3, with mean results 2.9 for general vocabulary,

2.8 for general academic vocabulary, 2.1 for general agricultural vocabulary, and 2.3 for vocabulary

in their narrow specialty). This entails that either course book authors should take this into

consideration or, most probably, in the near future, it is teachers’ responsibility to compensate for this

disadvantage. Students similarly view the value of all vocabulary activities (item 4: 2.7-3.4). Students

do have some strategies of learning the vocabulary, however, they need more efficient strategies and

they have to be purposefully developed in the process of teaching (item 5: mean 2.6).

Teachers answered a slightly modified version of the same questionnaire (table 3.3). These

were the teachers who teach ESP at the Agricultural University of Georgia. Ten out of twelve English

teachers volunteered to answer the questions.

Table 3.3. Assessment / rating questions/ results (10 teacher respondents)

# Question 0 1 2 3 4 Mean

rating

1 How effective is the book you

teach with in terms of vocabulary

teaching?

0 0 10% 40% 50% 3.0

2 How effective are the vocabulary

exercises in the textbook

vocabulary?

0 0 0 50% 50% 3.5

3 Rate the

importance of

the type of

vocabulary that

should be part

of your course.

General

vocabulary

0 10% 20% 40% 30% 2.9

General

academic

vocabulary

0 0 0 60% 40% 3.4

General

agricultural

vocabulary

0 0 0 40% 60% 3.6

Vocabulary

according to

students’

narrow

20% 20% 40% 10% 10% 2.1

87

specialty in

agriculture

4 Rate the type of

vocabulary

exercises

according to

efficiency

Gap filling 10% 20% 30% 20% 20% 2.2

Matching 0 10% 30% 30% 30% 2.8

Grouping and

classifying

0 10% 40% 30% 20% 2.6

Making up

collocations /

sentences

0 0 0 60% 40% 3.4

Interpreting the

word in the

listening /

reading text

(multiple

choice)

0 0 30% 50% 20% 2.9

5 To what extent do the students

have the skills to identify the key

words in the text?

0 10% 40% 20% 30% 2.8

It is visible from the table that teachers’ answers give higher assessments to the course-books

and the activities, however, otherwise the answers are similar to the ones given by the students:

The books (3.0) and the exercises (3.5) are assessed quite positively;

Teachers believe that all layers of vocabulary have to be taught (2.1-3.6); however, they are

least ready to teach narrow specialty vocabulary;

Teachers quite proportionately value all vocabulary activities used in books (2.2-3.4);

Teachers believe that students possess vocabulary strategies, but it is desirable for their level

to be higher (2.8).

During the experiment, English for agriculture was taught four hours per week to the students,

while two hours per week were dedicated to experimental teaching; during this time the learners took

a pretest, a while-test, an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test. The pre-test was held in the first

week of the semester, the while-test 1 – after a month, while-test 2 – after two months, and the post-

test – at the end of semester. The experiment occurred during the spring semester of 2015/2016

academic year, while the delayed post-test was held in November 2016 – almost 4 months later.

88

Besides, a pre- and post-interview was held in both groups to find out whether there was any change

in the attitude to the way vocabulary was taught.

3.2. Participants and Procedure

There were almost 60 freshman Master’s students at the university at the moment when the

experiment started. Their English skills level was B1/B2, measured by the admission (placement) test.

All students agreed to participate in the experiment, and thirty of them were selected at

random, however, some of them later suspended their status, so by the end of the experiment there

were 26 MA students.

After the administrative permission was obtained (see the appendix), 30 students were

randomly distributed into two groups:

a) one experimental (strategy-based vocabulary teaching) group (eventually with 13 students)

b) one control (traditional instructional) group (eventually with 13 students)

The volunteer students were placed to experimental and control groups at random, to provide

the objectivity of the results. Their starting level was B1/B2, as measures by the pre-test (see tables

The participants were explained that they are taking part in an experiment the goal of which

was to improve the quality of teaching English for agriculture, however, they were not informed which

group was the control and which – the experimental one. The participants were promised that no

personal information about them, including their grades and opinions, would be made available to the

public, all results would be anonymous and would be used only for the sake of research (would not

influence them personally or academically).

3.3. Measurement Tools

To measure the participants’ level of vocabulary skills a vocabulary test for the students of

agriculture was used. It was not an achievement text, based on the materials studied, but a proficiency

test, showing how the students could deal with vocabulary, both familiar and unfamiliar, to solve the

professional problems. The tests used on both groups for the pre-testing, while-testing-1, while-

testing-2, post-testing and delayed testing were the same by the structure, assessment. This was done

in order to provide the comparability of the results.

The test had a structure and assessment system shown in table

Table 3.4. Pre-, while-, post- and delayed test structure and assessment system

89

Task # Task type Assessment

1 Fill in the gaps in the text from the box. 20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

2 Read the text and then match the terms with the

definitions.

20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

3 Based on the same text, fulfill the true/false/no

information task.

20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

4 Listen to the micro-text, and do the multiple-choice

task.

20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

5 Use the given words to make up sentences. 20 points (2 points for each

correct sentence)

See a sample of the test in the appendix.

To measure the students’ attitudes towards vocabulary teaching both groups were given the

following questionnaire. They had to measure in terms of five points how much they agree with the

given statement (a Likert scale: 1- completely disagree, 2 – more disagree than agree, 3 – do not have

a clear opinion, 4- more agree than disagree, and 5 – completely agree). Some statements were

formulated in a positive way (e.g., I believe that vocabulary taught during the lessons is professionally

useful), while some – in the negative / critical (e.g. the texts and the activities require the knowledge

of too much vocabulary), in a mixed order, not to lead the students towards the result desirable for the

researcher. In this way reliability and validity of results were provided. Before using the questionnaire

for the purposes of the experiment, it was applied in another group of students of agricultural English

for the same reason. The items that were found misleading or contradictory were dropped (see the

questionnaire in the appendix).

3.4. Teaching the Control Group

In the control (traditional instruction) group, 13 students were taught the selected vocabulary

for fifteen weeks. Throughout these lessons, for more than three months, students learned twelve

words in each session and when the experiment was concluded, they had been taught about one

hundred eighty (180) target unfamiliar words (only agricultural terms) by using traditional methods.

For each session, traditional vocabulary teaching activities were prepared and presented to students

so as to teach the target twelve words. In each session, a number of different traditional vocabulary

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teaching activities were implemented. It is necessary to emphasize that the activities themselves in the

control group were not very different from the activities in the experimental group, but the teacher’s

role differed a lot. She did all the explanation and provided feedback (whether the answer was correct

or not), but no cues on how to guess the meaning, choose the synonym, etc. was given to the students

by her.

The students were given the target words and then the exact definition was presented on the

board. After that each word with the dictionary definitions were taught to the students, accompanied,

where available, by pictures, as in the example below (the text is from

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene05f6.html):

Fertile – bearing abundant vegetation

Soil - the portion of the earth's surface consisting of disintegrated rock and humus.

Compost - a mixture of various decaying organic substances, as dead leaves, used for fertilizing

soil

Manure - excrement, especially of animals, or other refuse used as fertilizer

Legume - any plant of the legume family, especially those used for feed, food, or as a soil-

improving crop

Crop - the cultivated produce of the ground, while growing or when gathered

Germination – developing into a plant, putting forth shoots

Pollination - the process by which plant pollen is transferred from the male reproductive organs to

the female reproductive organs to form seeds

Ear - the grain-bearing tip part of the stem of a cereal plant, such as wheat or corn

Seeds - he fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary

plant

Thin (v.) - remove some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others.

Harvest - the gathering of crops

After the words and their definitions were introduced, the students repeated the words loudly after

teacher announced them one by one. As soon as all students finished repeating the words, they were

asked to repeat the words loudly alone or in small groups.

Soon after the repetition drill was completed, the teacher introduced a list of synonyms of the words

as in the example below:

Example:

Crop – harvest

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Soil – earth

Fertile – productive

Germination – growing

Then students read the text (the text is from

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene05f6.html):

Corn requires rich, fertile soil. Add compost or well-rotted manure in autumn. Consider planting

a legume cover crop the season before corn to help meet the nutrient needs of this heavy feeder.

Make first planting after last frost date. Soil should be at least 65 F for fast germination (corn

will not germinate if soil temperature is less than 55 F). To speed increase in soil temperature,

consider covering soil with black plastic for several weeks before planting.

Plant in blocks of at least 4 rows of a single hybrid (as opposed to fewer, longer rows) for good

pollination and well-filled ears.

Plant seeds 1 inch deep and 4 to 6 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart. Thin to 8- to 12-

inch spacings when plants are 3 to 4 inches tall. Increase seeding rates to ensure a good stand if

soils are cold or you are using seed that has not been treated with fungicide.

For a sequential harvest, make first planting using an early hybrid. Two weeks later, plant another

block of an early hybrid, plus blocks of mid- and late-season hybrids. Continue making plantings

until late June, depending on the length of your growing season.

The students were asked to substitute the words in bold either by a synonym (if available) or by

a definition. The activity was held in small groups and then checked by the whole class. Further the

students were asked to do a gap-filling task in pairs:

In Georgia, there is a wine ……….. festival called “რთველი”.

Bees fly from a plant to a plant, eat nectar, and …………. the plants.

Don’t plant corn in cold ………. .

Water the soil, to make the process of ………….. faster.

At green farms only natural fertilizers are used: …………. and ……………. .

The young corn ………s can be boiled or fried.

Next, the students were asked to match the collocations:

1. Thin A. cover crop

2. fertile B. to 10 cm spacings

3. well-filled C. manure

4. plant D. germination

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5. a legume

6. well-rotten

E. soil

F. the seeds

7. fast G. ears

Finally, they individually constructed two sentences for each of the target words taught. After

they wrote the sentences into their notebooks, they were asked to read their sentences to the rest of

the class loudly. Then form-focused speaking exercises were held: asking and answering questions,

and holding short dialogues with the words under study. Homework also included traditional

vocabulary drills.

3.5. Teaching the Experimental Group

Below find one sample of a class in the experimental group. One more sample is given in the

appendix.

Task 1 (done individually and then discussed by the whole class): Read the text, try to

understand the meanings of the words in bold letters without a dictionary.

Comprehension strategy:

1. Use the context / the meaning of the sentence in which the word id included or, if

needed, the previous / next sentence.

2. Follow this sample:

Shortage:

Collocation: water shortage

What is the text about? – Desert.

What can you say about water in desert? – There is not enough (deficit of) water.

What part of speech, judging by the suffix and the position in the sentence, is the word “shortage”?

Now offer a definition of the word “shortage” and use it in your own sentence.

Desert beetles used to get water from air

Scientists may have found one answer to the problem of water shortages. It is a new material

that collects water from the air. They got their idea from a small beetle that lives in the desert in

Africa. The deserts of the Skeleton Coast in Namibia are very dry, but the Namib desert beetle is an

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expert at surviving in hot and dry conditions. Its shell is covered in small bumps that collect tiny

water droplets from the air. The water is enough to keep the beetle alive. Scientists studied the shape

and material of the beetle's bumps. They want to use what they found out about the beetle to make

their own materials that can collect water from the air. This will help people who live in very dry

areas.

The scientists believe this new technology could help in many areas of our life. They said it

could be very useful for power plants and for the heating and air conditioning in airplanes, cars and

trains. One of the scientists, Philseok Kim, said: "Thermal power plants, for example, rely on

condensers to quickly convert steam to liquid water. [Our] design could help speed up that process

and even allow for operation at a higher temperature, significantly improving the overall energy

efficiency." Another scientist, Joanna Aizenberg, said she was looking forward to the future of getting

ideas for new technologies from nature. She said: "Everybody is excited about bio-inspired materials

research."

Task 2. Work in pairs. Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

Strategy for gap-filling:

3. Find the collocated words which will help you decide what the meaning of the

missing word is.

4. Define which part of speech the missing word is.

5. Try to guess the word to fill in. If you cannot, try to translate the sentence and find

the L1 word that would fit in the gap, then find its translation (or something similar)

in the box.

efficiency; tiny; shortages; significantly; conditions

1. Refugees are facing serious food and water ---------------------.

2. The project aims to provide better living ------------- and health care for the elderly.

3. The floor was covered in ----------------------- bits of paper.

4. --------------------more people are injured at home than at work.

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5. The new technology is aimed at improving -------------------- and customer service.

Task 3. Work in pairs. Underline the most suitable word or collocations.

Strategy for selecting the right word:

1. Define what part of speech the underlined words are.

2. Name the words that collocate with them.

3. Now choose the right word, based on both grammar and meaning.

Follow the sample:

Surviving – adjective (which have survived)

Survival – noun (being saved from death)

1. There are quite few surviving/ survival works of Sophocles.

2. A lot of families collect/ collection newspapers for recycling.

3. His particular area of expertise/ expert is engineering.

4. Many parts of the country were without heating/heater and lighting.

5. The new technologies improved the air conditioning/ air conditioner

6. We drove to the airport and caught the next airplane/ aircraft to Nice.

Task 4. Work in small groups (3-4 students in a group). Match the words in the box with a

suitable definition (a-h).

Strategy for the matching task:

1. Read all terms, look up the text in task 1, if you have forgotten their meaning.

2. Now read the definitions and try to match as many as you can with the given words.

3. If some are still left, ask your friends for help. Ask them how they did it.

bump ; desert; droplets; beetle; power plants; liquid; shell; steam

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a) a lack of something that you need or want

b) an insect with a smooth hard back

c) the hard outer part that protects the body of an insect

d) a raised part on your skin where you have been injured

e) a machine that produces power, especially electricity, for buildings and ships

f) the hot wet substance like a thin cloud that is produced when water is heated

g) a substance that can flow, has no fixed shape, and is not a solid or a gas

h) a very small drop of liquid

Task 5. Work in small groups. Replace the words in italics in each sentence with a word from

the box.

Strategy for paraphrasing:

1. Define all the words in the box. If you do not know some words, look them up in the

dictionary. Together with the definitions, mark the part of speech.

2. Find the collocating words and say what part of speech should the replacing word be. In

some words the suffixes will help you.

3. Choose the replacing word, read the sentence and see whether its meaning and structure are

OK.

inspiring; operation; shape; material; expert

1. He’s a/an walking encyclopedia at getting served in a crowded bar.

2. Connecting the water supply is a very simple action.

3. This is a/an praiseworty performance.

4. Brick was used as the main building substance for local churches.

5. There were balloons of all forms and sizes in the sky.

Task 6. Work in pairs. Match verbs with opposites

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Strategy for giving anonyms:

1. Read items 1-6 and try to define or translate them

2. Define/translate items 1-f. Keep in mind that they may have more than one meaning. If you

think that no word matched, try to think of a different meaning of the same word. Pay attention

to negative prefixes.

1. Convert --------

2. Design --------

3. Rely --------

4. Speedy --------

5. Find --------

6. Cover --------

a. keep the same

b. Slow

c. Lose

d. Uncover

e. Not create anything at all

f. distrust

Task 7. Whole-class activity. Match the verbs with the prepositions: in; out; up; for; on; to

(x2). If needed, check in the text.

1. rely --------

2. found --------

3. speed ---------

4. covered ---------

5. useful ---------

6. looking forward ---------

7. answer ---------

Task 8. Whole-class activity. Match the words from ex.7 with their meanings in ex 8. If

problems arise, students who were successful in the task describe their strategies.

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a. to discover a fact or piece of information

b. waiting for something

c. to trust someone or something to do something for you

d. solution to the problem

e. to move or happen faster

f. to be all over a surface or object

3.6. Experiment Results and Discussion

The mean results and the standard deviations of both groups were calculated (see the student-

per-student results in the appendix). The results of the control group revealed a gradual and slow

increase (5559 points) during the experiment, but, after the English classes were no longer held,

they reasonably decreased approximately to while-test 1 results (56 points), which is natural as no

practice in English was provided. The results are shown in figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1. Control group test results

The results of the experimental group revealed a gradual and a relatively fast increase (55

68 points) during the experiment, which show the success of the experimental approach and is in

agreement with earlier held researches (Lai, 2013; Macaro & Erler, 2008; Mizumoto & Takeuchi,

2009; Urlaub, 2012; ). However, after the English classes were no longer held, they reasonably

decreased (67 points), which is natural as no practice in English was provided. On the other hand,

the results were even a little higher than the while-test 2 results. It is necessary to emphasize that

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

pre-test while-test1

while-test2

post-test delayedtest

control group test results

control group test results

98

the decrease was smaller than in the control group, which also indicated to the fruitfulness of the

experimental approach. The results are shown in figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2. Experimental group test results

Concerning the standard deviation and its change, it is possible to say that the groups were

homogeneous enough (standard deviation between 6.36 and 8.23, which is below 10). In the process

of the experiment it was decreasing, so the groups were becoming more homogeneous. This reveals

that both approaches to teaching are equally efficient for all students.

To see whether the control group really improved and the experimental group really improved

and whether there is a statistically significant difference between their results, paired sample t-test

was applied, using the SPSS program.

Table 3.5 contains the summary of experiment results, while Table 3.6 provides the necessary data

to calculate whether the difference between the text results in the control and the experimental group

between the pre-test and while-test 1 is statistically significant.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

pre-test while-test1

while-test2

post-test delayedtest

experimental group test results

experimental group testresults

99

Ta

ble

3.5

. S

um

ma

ry o

f ex

per

imen

t re

sult

s

Del

ayed

test

stan

dar

d

dev

iati

on

6.3

5

7.6

7

Del

ayed

test

mea

n

56

.23

66

.54

Po

st-t

est

stan

dar

d

dev

iati

on

6.4

9

7.0

2

Po

st-

test

mea

n

59

.07

67

.69

Whil

e-

test

2

stan

dar

d

dev

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on

6.7

7

7.3

8

Whil

e

-tes

t 2

mea

n

57.4

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62.6

9

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e-

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stan

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6.7

6

7.9

6

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1

mea

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56.0

8

58.6

1

Pre

-tes

t

stan

dar

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7.1

6

8.2

3

Pre

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mea

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55

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55

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Stu

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100

Without any statistic tests it is visible, that there is no statistically significant difference

between the mean pre-test results of both groups (55.23). If we compare all test results’ dynamics

(from pre-test to post-test) in both groups (tables 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8), we will see that at 95% confidence

interval the results between the groups have been found statistically different, since the 2-tailed

significance = 0.113 is more than 0.05. A very high correlation of 0.999 has been found between the

approach and its results.

Table 3.6. Paired Sample statistics for the results of the control and experimental

groups

mean Number of

measurements

St. dev. St. error mean

Control group 56.9600 4 1.68022 0.84011

Experimental

group

61,0550 4 5.37293 2.68646

Table 3.7. Paired samples correlation for the results of the control and experimental

groups

N correlation Sig.

Control/experimental

group

4 0.999 0.001

Table 3.8. Paired samples Test for the results of the control and experimental groups

Paired differences

t

Df

Sig.

(2-

tailed)

mean Std. dev. Std.

error

mean

95% confidence

interval of the

difference

lower upper

Pair 1

control and

experimental

groups

-4.09500 3.69604 1.84802 -9.97622 -1.78622 -2.216 3 0.113

As it has been mentioned, a questionnaire was applied to both groups before and after the

experiment in order to see, whether their difficulties and satisfaction dealing with vocabulary learning

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have changed due to the traditional and experimental treatment. The students had to assess the

agreement with the suggested items with a 5-point Likert scale (1- completely disagree 5 –

completely agree). Thus, the mean results above 3.5 can be viewed as a strong agreement with the

item.

Table 3.9 presents mean results of pre- and post-experimental questionnaires in both groups.

Table 3.9. Comparison of mean results of pre- and post-questionnaires in the control

and experimental groups

Questions / results Control group Experimental

group

Pre-q. Post-q. Pre-q. Post-q.

1. I believe that vocabulary taught during the lessons

is professionally useful.

3.85 4.23 3.77 4.23

2. The texts and the activities require the knowledge

of too much vocabulary.

3.31 3.08 3.31 2.85

3. When I come across a word I do not

know/remember, I feel at a loss, and it is difficult

for me to keep reading / listening.

4.31 3.92 4.08 2.69

4. When speaking / writing, if I need some word I

do not know, I get stuck, and may be unable to

complete the task.

3.92 3.46 3.49 2.46

5. I manage to memorize most the vocabulary

taught.

3.31 3.85 3.31 4.08

6. I believe that the course helps me to enrich my

vocabulary.

4.08 4.31 4.00 4.54

7. I often make wrong guesses when trying to

understand the meaning of unfamiliar words.

3.31 3.00 3.31 1.69

8. Dictionary is not of a great help for me, as too

many meanings are given there for the same

words.

3.38 3.08 3.15 2.46

9. The teaching on the whole prepares me for the

midterm and final exams.

3.62 3.92 3.85 4.38

10. I can deal with vocabulary problems while

listening to, speaking about, reading and writing

on agricultural topics.

3.38 3.46 3.69 4.38

From the table it is possible to see that:

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The students of the control group quite positively viewed the professional usefulness of the

vocabulary taught to them (3.85), this feeling increased towards the end of the course (4.23) –

an increase by 0.38 points or 9.9%. The initial viewpoint of the experimental group is a little

lower (3.77), anyway, high enough. Post-experimental questionnaire gave a really higher mean

assessment buy the experimental group (4.23). This shows that the applied strategies of

vocabulary teaching have significantly raised the students’ satisfaction – an increase by o.46 or

12.2%.

The dissatisfaction of the students of the control group with the required vocabulary skills’

level is not too high, but quite weighty (3.31). It to some degree decreases as result of learning

(3.08) – a decrease by 0.23 or 6.9%. The initial level of dissatisfaction of the experimental group

is the same (3.31). However, it has impressively decreased as the result of the experimental

treatment (2.85) – by 0.46 or 13.9%.

The control group students’ self-confidence, due to poor vocabulary, is low, this is why

coming across an unfamiliar word creates grave problems for continuing reading or listening

(4.31). Although in the process of tuition this problem has decreased, it is still quite grave (3.92)

– the decrease by 0.39 or by 9%. Before the experiment unfamiliar vocabulary is a great obstacle

for the experimental group students, too (4.08). However, the situation has dramatically

improved by the end of the experiment. Now they possess strategies to overcome this problem

and feel more self-confident (2.69) – a decrease by 1.39 or 34.1%.

The control group students experience serious enough problems, when they are unable to

recollect the needed word for speaking or writing (3.92), however, the problem is lighter than

with reading and listening, probably, because their ability to paraphrase is better than their

ability to elicit meaning. After the experiment, they get stuck more seldom (3.46), as their

vocabulary stock has been enriched – the problems decreased by 0.46 or 11.7%. With the

experimental group students, the lack of vocabulary is a reasonably serious reason for getting

stuck (3.49), while speaking and writing, most probably due to the same reason as for the control

group students. After the experiment, their paraphrases skills have increased, and the problem

has dramatically decreased (2.46) – by 1.03 or 29.5%.

The students of the control group before the experiment manage to memorize a reasonably

good amount of the taught vocabulary (3.31). With the practice, this ability has reasonably

increased (3.85) – an increase by 0.54 or 16.3%. In the experimental group, initially the students

were able to memorize the same amount of the taught vocabulary, as the students of the control

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group (3.31). After the experiment, their ability has substantially increased, due to the

application of beneficial strategies (4.08) – by 0.77 or 23.3%.

The students of the control group initially largely believe that the course would increase their

vocabulary skills (4.08). After the experiment, their opinion has improved to a certain degree

(4.31) – by 0.23 or 5.6%. The students of the experimental group also had quite positive

expectations for the course (4.00). Their satisfaction with the course was considerably higher

than their expectations (4.54) – by 0.54 or 13.5%.

The students of the control group quite often made wrong guesses while trying to elicit the

word meaning (3.31). With the practice, this problem has decreased (3.00) by 0.31 or 9.4%. The

students of the experimental group initially also used to make wrong guesses (3.31), but by the

end of the experiment, their number of wrong guesses has dramatically decreased, due to the

development of the corresponding strategies (1.69). This item showed the most dramatic

decrease (by 1.62 or 48.9%), which means that the suggested approach is especially efficient

for the development of meaning elicitation strategies.

Many enough students in the control group think that dictionary is not too helpful for them

(3.38). At the end of the experiment, with practice, dictionary has become somehow more useful

for them (3.08) – by 0.3 or 8.9%. For the experimental group the situation was similar in the

beginning of the experiment (3.15), while after the experiment the dissatisfaction with the

dictionary application has decreased (4.46) more than in the control group – by 1.31 or 41.6%.

The students of the control group reasonably believed in the beginning of the experiment that

the teaching on the whole would prepare them for exams (3.62). This belief has somehow been

strengthened by the end of the experiment (3.92) – by 0.3 or 8.3%. As for the experimental

group students, their expectations for the course were also reasonably high (3.85) (in both cases,

probably, based on the Bachelor course of English). After the experiment, their belief has

strengthened more that in the control group (4.38), having reached quite a high level – the

change by 0.53 or 13.8%.

Before the start of the experiment many of the students of the control group believed that they

can deal with vocabulary problems arising in the process of communication (3.38). After the

experiment their self-confidence has symbolically increased, due to practice (3.46) – by 0.08 or

2.3%. The students of the experimental group initially had reasonably high beliefs that they

could deal with vocabulary problems in the process of communication (3.69). After the

experiment, the students of the experimental group believed they almost did not experience

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vocabulary problems in the process of communication (4.38). The growth of self-confidence is

by 0.69 or 19%.

3.7. Interview Results

The interview was held with volunteer students selected at random before and after the

experiment (student 1 and 2 from control and 3 and 4 from experimental group). Randomization

of interview participants was needed for obtaining more objective results, not depending on

teacher’s or researcher’s wish. The questions asked at the interview were similar to the questions

in the questionnaire. They dealt with

a) The level of their vocabulary skills (did they find that they improved after teaching and

were satisfactory for the professional purposes)

b) The course-book, texts, topics and activities – whether the students viewed them as

effective ones.

c) Their ability to continue ESP (for agriculture) study in the future and how the course

contributed to it (the question was asked after the experiment)

d) Student motivation in the process of study.

In the pre-experimental interview all students expressed ideas similar to the questionnaire answers:

Student 1 (took ESP course on bachelor level): The vocabulary skills with which I started the course

were rather OK. However, I think, I do not know some words which are not terms, but often used in

professional text, such as “emphasize, focus, etc.” The course-books (their texts and topics), both the

one in the bachelor course and in the master course are useful enough, but rather monotonous and a

bit boring. I am reasonably motivated to learn ESP for agriculture and to fulfill the suggested activities,

as I realize their usefulness for my profession, however, I’m not sure that the job that I will get will

really require the knowledge of English, so sometimes I am lazy in my studies.

Student 2 (took General English course on bachelor level): I lack the knowledge of terminology, both

general and narrow. I basically like the books and the activities, but I wish they were more various

and creative. Agricultural English is something new and motivating for me, I think it is more useful

for my future life than General English.

Student 3 (took General English course on bachelor level): I always worry that my vocabulary is

limited, and it will be difficult for me to use English for professional purposes. I basically like the

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course-books, but I would like them to be more practically useful. I am very motivated to improve

my English.

Student 4 (took ESP course on bachelor level): Form my viewpoint, the book for bachelor level was

OK, but this one is a bit too simple. It does not contain texts about recent findings in agriculture. I

don’t think my vocabulary will be sufficiently increased due to using it. And it does not contain

enough exciting and useful activities. I was more motivated to learn English when I was a bachelor

student. I have a feeling that I’m just revising what I already know.

As students 1 and 2 answered practically identically questions a, b and d in the post-

experimental interview, these answers are not presented below.

Student 1: I believe it will be somehow difficult to continue the study of English for agriculture

myself. I still am not very good at either using the dictionary or guessing the meaning of words from

the context. My professional vocabulary has grown to some degree, but I still feel it is not enough.

Student 2: Studying terminology was very difficult for me. I’m afraid I have memorized about a half

of what I was taught.

Student 3: I have memorized about six hundred terms – not bad for half a year. But what is more

important, now I feel very self-confident, as I know how to solve vocabulary challenges that may

evolve. The textbook was reasonably good, but the classes included many other things and were really

motivating. I’ve enjoyed them.

Student 4: I’ve learned about 4 hundred new words and terms, and it wasn’t difficult – the

memorization strategies helped a lot. But I can deal with texts with unfamiliar vocabulary and

terminology easily, I know how to solve comprehension problems, I know how to substitute the word

I do not know. I am sure I can understand and can make myself understood. This has been very

motivating. I’ll keep using the strategies and will with pleasure continue my studies in agriculture in

English.

The teacher working with the control and experimental group was interviewed, too. She

mentioned that students in both groups were reasonable satisfied with students’ ESP vocabulary skills,

she mentioned that students who on bachelor level studied general English lacked the knowledge of

both the general academic and the agricultural English terminology, while students who on bachelor

level studied ESP lacked the general English words often used in ESP. After the tuition both groups

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made progress, their vocabulary volume increased, however, the experimental group students

developed the strategies that helped them deal with unfamiliar vocabulary, while the control group

students almost have not developed them.

3.8. Limitations

The study was held with just 26 MA students at only one university in Georgia. The

experiment lasted for one semester (dealt with teaching agricultural English to one batch of master

students). Although there is no other university in Georgia which teaches English for agriculture,

research that would give more generalizable results should be held at the same university for a

longer time, for several semesters, in order to increase the number of the participants, to make the

results generalizable for Georgia. Also, it should spread to other ESP courses, such as English for

Business, English for science and Technology, etc. and be held in various countries, to offer far-

reaching conclusions. Still, as literature analysis is supported by this research, and the statistical

treatment of the data has been fulfilled, the conclusions do have a certain theoretical value.

3.9. Conclusion to chapter 3

The hypothesis of the research has been tested experimentally. The students of the experimental

group were taught ESP (agricultural) vocabulary according to the developed syllabus, based on VLS,

the selected (3-layer) vocabulary and the specially worked-out activities based on the strategies of

vocabulary memorization, recollection and application. The results of the experiment show that:

a) Both groups increased their level of vocabulary skills, so, both the traditional and the

experimental approaches are characterized by efficiency;

b) The experimental group showed an increase in results (55.23 points in the pre-test and 66.54

in the delayed test) that is higher than the control group (55.23 in the pre-test and 56.23 in the

delayed test), and the difference is statistically significant.

These results support the hypothesis of the study. Besides, all items of the questionnaire show

that:

a) Initially students of both groups had problems with learning vocabulary and its amount in

their stock, although they had in general a positive attitude towards the course and an

understanding of the need to learn vocabulary.

107

b) Students of both groups said they benefitted from the educational process, however, the

improvement of the control group is from symbolic to average, while the improvement of

the experimental group is each time more impressive than that of the control group, it is

always higher than in the experimental group, both by an absolute value (how many points)

and relatively (percentage). The improvement in the experimental group is especially

impressive in items 7, 8, 3, 4 and 5 (22.3% - 48.9%), all dealing with VLSs development.

Thus, the comparison of the results of the questionnaires held before and after the experiment in

the control and experimental groups support the hypothesis of the research.

108

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. English for specific purposes or ESP first appeared as a branch of linguistics studying the

peculiarities of professional language after the WWII. Later, teaching ESP differentiated from

teaching General English (GE), based on the conducted linguistic studies. Since the 1980s ESP

is an important sphere of teaching English as a Second (ESL) or Foreign (EFL) Language.

Teaching ESP in tertiary education nowadays is / should be compulsory for students not

majoring in English, as their ability to grow professionally in the process of their careers depends

on it. Teaching ESP in Georgia started in the 1990s, there are some achievements in the sphere,

but the scientific study of the teaching has almost not been done.

2. Vocabulary is the essential component of language learning in general and ESP communicative

skills, in particular. This is why it is necessary that teaching vocabulary be carried out really

efficiently. However, the surveys held by the researcher at both BA and MA level at the

Agricultural University of Georgia reveal that students only reasonably satisfied with the used

ESP textbooks, syllabi, materials, activities and teaching methods. 107 BA students, for

instance, yielded a satisfaction level with the textbook and the activities between 2.7 and 3.1 in

a 5-point Likert scale. Fifty MA students’ satisfaction level was found between 3.42 and 5 in a

5-point Likert scale, which is not bad, but for the item concerning the development of

vocabulary-learning strategies and students’ self-confidence concerning vocabulary application,

the assessment was rather low (3.42-3.76). As for the 10 teachers, their assessment of the applied

textbooks varied between 4.4 and 5.0, however, again, the item dealing with the development

of VLSs yielded the lowest result (4.4).

3. Language learning strategies substitute rote memorization requiring much time to master even

a limited amount of vocabulary. Meaningful attitude towards it permits to practically

unlimitedly widen the language learner’s vocabulary stock, raising learning to higher, cognitive

and meta-cognitive levels. The near-native knowledge of ESP vocabulary does not mean the

knowledge of all words and terms employed in the given professions field, but it implies such

knowledge of it, when the student is able to comprehend well enough each text heard or read

and express his/her ideas in oral or written form, by effectively eliciting the unfamiliar words’

meaning and paraphrasing the missing in the stock word to express one’s ideas.

4. Oxford (2003, p. 8) defined language learning strategies as “specific actions taken by the

learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and

more transferable to new situations”. Takač (2008) defined VLSs strategies as particular

109

strategies used for learning vocabulary in either general English or ESP. Laufer (1998)

concluded that learning vocabulary for speaking and writing, as productive skills, requires

different strategies, while learning vocabulary for listening and reading, as perceptive skills,

requires different strategies. Thus, special strategies are needed to teach ESP (agricultural)

vocabulary productively and receptively.

5. English for agriculture is essential for Georgian tertiary education, as agriculture is one of the

priorities of the country’s development. As the state of teaching English for agriculture in

Georgia is not optimal yet, as the above-cited investigation has shown, it is necessary to develop

such a model of VLSs for the ESP which would improve significantly the existing situation.

Such a model was developed in the dissertation. Schematically it looks as:

Presenting a strategy by the teacher

Application of the strategy by more successful students

Sharing of strategies, linguistic and background knowledge by students in the process of pair and group

work

Activities for practicing the strategy

Development of VLSs

6. Only few students intuitively develop the learning strategies. For the majority of students the

VLSs do not develop automatically, by themselves, but in the process of vocabulary learning

activities with teacher’s and more strategically thinking students’ help. The activities used in

the traditional approach are the same, the difference lies mostly in the feedback provided by the

teacher / more knowledgeable students, which does not simply state whether the activity was

fulfilled correctly or incorrectly, but emphasizes the strategies that should be used in order to

successfully fulfill the activity. The cues and hints that the teacher gives are essential for the

development of VLSs.

7. The VLSs for teaching ESP look as:

110

VLSs for productive skills VLSs for receptive skills

VLSs for Speaking and Writing

VLSs for Listening and Reading

Memorization strategies reciting, rehearsing, answering,

naming, story-telling, dialogues;

grouping, matching, gap-filling,

games, mnemonics, dictionary

application, story and dialogue

writing

repeated listening and reading;

graded readers; graphic organizers

Cognitive strategies Brainstorming as a pre-speaking

and pre-writing activity

Meaning elicitation based on

context, linguistic and background

knowledge

Meta-cognitive strategies Planning one’s speaking and

writing; monitoring (self-editing);

peer and self-assessment with a

rubric

Planning and monitoring one’s

listening and reading; peer and

self-assessment with a key

8. The vocabulary learning strategies-based ESP syllabus and materials design, according to the model

worked out in the dissertation, should occur as follows:

Assessing students’ needs via questionnaire or informal talk; analyzing the results

Choosing a course-book corresponding to students’ needs. It involves existing course-book analysis

according to:

Syllabus design, based on:

4 layers of ESP

vocabulary

Language acquisition

activities

Professionally useful

content (topics) Student motivation

111

9. The developed in the dissertation VLS-based syllabus for teaching English for agriculture, as well

as the selected vocabulary and the designed activities have been tested in the process of experimental

study. While the control group students’ vocabulary skills showed a statistically significant increase

by 3.84 points (7%), which after the delayed test became a statistically insignificant change (1 point

or 1.8%), the experimental group students’ improvement was much more impressive (by 12.45 points

or 22.6% between the pre- and post-tests and by 11.31 points or 20.5% between the pre- and delayed

tests). More than that, the comparison of the results of the questionnaire concerning students’ opinions

of vocabulary learning before and after the experiment held with the students supported the testing

results and has revealed a great improvement with the experimental group of students (minimum by

12.2% and maximum 48.9%, for some questions), while the improvement of the control group is more

modest (minimum 2.3% and maximum 16.3%)

10. As the suggested model of vocabulary teaching, the worked-out syllabus and the developed

activities proved to be effective with the given group of MA students, they can be recommended for

a wider application. The practical recommendations to the teachers teaching English for agriculture

are:

Teach four layers of vocabulary, not only general agricultural terminology (general vocabulary

often used in texts on agriculture, general academic vocabulary, general agricultural vocabulary

(here the glossary from O’Sullivan & Libbin (2011) can be used, as for others – the glossary from

appendix 6 will be useful.

Do not teach only vocabulary – teach strategies of memorization, application, and meaning

elicitation, connect the strategies with language communicative skills (reading, listening, speaking

and writing). Teach cognitive strategies, such as classification and analysis, involve students in meta-

cognitive analysis (discussing the strategies they apply) and socializing (sharing the strategies in the

process of pair and group work, benefitting from each other’s professional knowledge, asking

interlocutor for help in the process of communication).

Text selection Vocabulary selection Topic selection Language learning

strategies

112

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Detailed test results

Table A1. Control group test results

Student Pre-test While-test 1 While-test 2 Post-test Delayed test

1 47 48 48 51 48

2 52 54 55 56 53

3 49 47 49 52 50

4 59 60 58 59 57

5 61 63 64 66 66

6 43 45 48 51 46

7 72 74 73 75 72

8 55 56 58 59 57

9 51 54 57 57 53

10 60 59 62 62 60

11 52 53 54 55 51

12 50 52 55 57 53

13 67 64 66 68 65

mean 55.23 56.08 57.46 59.07 56.23

standard

deviation

8.23 7.96 7.38 7.02 7.67

Table A2. Experimental group test results

student Pre-test While-test 1 While-test 2 Post-test Delayed test

1 45 49 54 60 58

2 52 54 59 63 62

3 47 51 56 61 61

4 60 63 69 74 73

5 62 65 70 75 73

6 44 50 53 59 58

7 70 72 76 80 79

8 56 59 61 67 66

9 54 58 62 68 68

10 57 60 64 69 67

11 55 59 60 64 63

131

12 52 56 62 66 65

13 64 66 69 74 72

mean 55.23 58.61 62.69 67.69 66.54

standard

deviation

7.16 6.76 6.77 6.49 6.35

132

Appendix 2. Student questionnaire used to measure their vocabulary difficulties

1. I believe that vocabulary taught during the lessons is professionally useful.

2. The texts and the activities require the knowledge of too much vocabulary.

3. When I come across a word I do not know/remember, I feel at a loss, and it is difficult for

me to keep reading / listening.

4. When speaking / writing, if I need some word I do not know, I get stuck, and may be unable

to complete the task.

5. I manage to memorize most the vocabulary taught.

6. I believe that the course helps me to enrich my vocabulary.

7. I often make wrong guesses when trying to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words.

8. Dictionary is not of a great help for me, as too many meanings are given there for the same

words.

9. The teaching on the whole prepares me for the midterm and final exams.

10. I can deal with vocabulary problems while listening to, speaking about, reading and writing

on agricultural topics.

133

Appendix 3. Detailed questionnaire results

Table A3. Pre-questionnaire results for the control group

Question / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 mean

1. I believe that vocabulary taught

during the lessons is

professionally useful.

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3sts.)

0% 15.4%

(2sts.)

53.8%

(7sts.)

3.85

2. The texts and the activities

require the knowledge of too

much vocabulary.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4sts.)

3.31

3. When I come across a word I do

not know/remember, I feel at a

loss, and it is difficult for me to

keep reading / listening.

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

0 23.1%

(3 sts.)

61.55

(8sts.)

4.31

4. When speaking / writing, if I

need some word I do not know,

I get stuck, and may be unable

to complete the task.

7.7%

(1 st.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

3.92

5. I manage to memorize most the

vocabulary taught.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 38.5%

(5 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.31

6. I believe that the course will

help me to enrich my

vocabulary.

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

4.08

7. I often make wrong guesses

when trying to understand the

meaning of unfamiliar words.

0% 30.8%

(4sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.31

8. Dictionary is not of a great help

for me, as too many meanings

are given there for the same

words.

23.1%

(3sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.38

9. The teaching on the whole will

prepare me for the midterm and

final exams.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

3.62

10. I can deal with vocabulary

problems while listening to,

speaking about, reading and

writing on agricultural topics.

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.38

Table A 4. Post-questionnaire results for the control group

Question / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 mean

134

8. I believe that vocabulary taught

during the lessons is

professionally useful.

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

53.8%

(7 sts.)

4.23

9. The texts and the activities

require the knowledge of too

much vocabulary.

23.1%

(3 sts.)

23.15

(3 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.08

10. When I come across a word I do

not know/remember, I feel at a

loss, and it is difficult for me to

keep reading / listening.

7.7%

(1 st.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

46.2%

6 sts.)

3.92

11. When speaking / writing, if I

need some word I do not know,

I get stuck, and may be unable

to complete the task.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

3.46

12. I manage to memorize most the

vocabulary taught.

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 46.2%

(6 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.85

13. I believe that the course has

helped me to enrich my

vocabulary.

0% 7.7%

(1 st.)

0% 46.2%

(6 sts.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

4.31

14. I often make wrong guesses

when trying to understand the

meaning of unfamiliar words.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

30.8 %

(4 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

15..4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.00

15. Dictionary is not of a great help

for me, as too many meanings

are given there for the same

words.

30.8%

(4 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.08

16. The teaching on the whole

prepares me for the midterm

and final exams.

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 38.5%

(5 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

3.92

17. I can deal with vocabulary

problems while listening to,

speaking about, reading and

writing on agricultural topics.

7.7%

(1 st.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.46

Table A5. Pre-questionnaire results for the experimental group

Question / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 mean

1. I believe that vocabulary

taught during the lessons is

professionally useful.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

53.8%

(7 sts.)

3.77

2. The texts and the activities

require the knowledge of

too much vocabulary.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.31

135

3. When I come across a word

I do not know/remember, I

feel at a loss, and it is

difficult for me to keep

reading / listening.

7.7%

(1 st.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

53.8%

(7 sts.)

4.08

4. When speaking / writing, if

I need some word I do not

know, I get stuck, and may

be unable to complete the

task.

15.4%

(2 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.49

5. I manage to memorize

most the vocabulary taught.

23.1%

(3 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 30.8%

(4 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.31

6. I believe that the course

helps me to enrich my

vocabulary.

7.7%

(1 st.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

0% 46.2%

(6 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

4.0

7. I often make wrong

guesses when trying to

understand the meaning of

unfamiliar words.

7.7%

(1 st.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.31

8. Dictionary is not of a great

help for me, as too many

meanings are given there

for the same words.

23.1%

(3 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

7.7%

(1 st.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.15

9. The teaching on the whole

prepares me for the

midterm and final exams.

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

3.85

10. I can deal with vocabulary

problems while listening

to, speaking about, reading

and writing on agricultural

topics.

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

3.69

136

Table A6. Post-questionnaire results for the experimental group

Question / assessment 1 2 3 4 5 mean

1. I believe that vocabulary

taught during the lessons is

professionally useful.

0% 0% 0% 38.5%

(5 sts.)

61.5%

(8 sts.)

4.62

2. The texts and the activities

require the knowledge of

too much vocabulary.

30.8%

(4 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

0% 23.1%

(3 sts.)

23.1%

(3 sts.)

2.85

3. When I come across a word

I do not know/remember, I

feel at a loss, and it is

difficult for me to keep

reading / listening.

23.1%

(3 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

30.8%

(4 sts.)

2.69

4. When speaking / writing, if

I need some word I do not

know, I get stuck, and may

be unable to complete the

task.

30.8%

(4 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

2.46

5. I manage to memorize most

the vocabulary taught.

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

0% 46.2%

(6 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

4.08

6. I believe that the course has

helped me to enrich my

vocabulary.

0% 0% 0% 46.2%

(6 sts.)

53.8%

(7 sts.)

4.54

7. I often make wrong guesses

when trying to understand

the meaning of unfamiliar

words.

46.2%

(6 sts.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

0% 7.7%

(1 st.)

0 1.69

8. Dictionary is not of a great

help for me, as too many

meanings are given there

for the same words.

30.8%

(4 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

0% 15.4%

(2 sts.)

15.4%

(2 sts.)

2.46

9. The teaching on the whole

prepares me for the

midterm and final exams.

0% 0% 0% 61.5%

(8 sts.)

38.5%

(5 sts.)

4.38

10. I can deal with vocabulary

problems while listening to,

speaking about, reading

and writing on agricultural

topics.

0% 0% 7.7%

(1 st.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

46.2%

(6 sts.)

4.38

137

Appendix 4. Pre-test

1. Fill in the gaps in the text from the box. 20 points (2 points for each correct answer)

Better; majority; journalist; employment; payment; promotion; enjoyment; happier;

activities; accountant;

One thing that people get from their occupation is, of course, money. Most people wouldn’t

do the job they do if it wasn’t for the 1. -------------- at the end of each day, week or month.

However, the 2. ------------------ of the people want more than just a good salary. There are

many other things which add up to ‘ job satisfaction’, the feeling of 3. --------------------------

you get from doing a job that makes you happy. What people in 4. ------------------------- want

from a job varies greatly from person to person. For some, the chances of 5. -----------------

make a big difference. For others, working in a creative environment with other people makes

them 6. ----------------- than they would be working alone. When planning your career, you

should consider all the 7. ------------------ involved in a job and decide how each one suits your

personality. If you’re considering becoming a 8. -------------------- , for example, do you like

meeting members of the public? If you’re thinking of becoming an 9. ------------------ , do you

enjoy detailed work with numbers? Just Because one job is 10. ----------------- paid than

another, it doesn’t mean it’s the job for you.

2. Read the text and then match the terms with the definitions. 20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

There is good news and bad news regarding the number of trees on our planet. The good news is that there are

seven times more trees on Earth than we thought. Until a few years ago, scientists estimated that the world had

around 400 billion trees. However, a new study from Yale University estimates that there are around three

trillion trees. That's a three followed by 12 zeroes. That means there are more than 420 trees for every person

alive today. Lead researcher Dr Thomas Crowther told the BBC that the new estimate will not change anything.

He said: "It's not like we've discovered a load of new trees. It's not good news for the world or bad news that

we've produced this new number." The bad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had around six trillion

trees. Human activity has cut in half the number of trees on the planet. A good example of this is the fact that

Europe used to be one giant forest. Now much of it is farmland, fields, cities and towns. Dr Crowther said

people are responsible for the loss of three trillion trees over the past several thousand years. Humans are

destroying around 15 billion more trees every year because of deforestation and the demand for farmland. The

scientists said this figure is "considerably higher" than just a century ago. Dr Crowther warned that: "This study

highlights how much more effort is needed if we are to restore healthy forests worldwide."

1. regarding a. Living

138

2. estimated b. Made

3. around c. Number

4. alive d. Guessed

5. produced e. a lot

6. cut in half f. Globally

7. figure g. Concerning

8. considerably h. Work

9. effort i. Halved

10. worldwide j. About

3. Based on the same text, fulfill the true/false/no information task. 20 points (2 points for

each correct answer)

Space Tourism is here

Fed up with the usual week-long holiday on the beach, or walking through museums and old

building that you only pretend to be interested in? Well, consider the ultimate in niche tourism:

a new frontier, ‘the final frontier ‘ in fact: space tourism.

It wasn’t long ago that space hotels were the stuff of science fiction, and space tourism was a

concept that only the craziest of business entrepreneurs talked about seriously. But since the

2001 flight of Dennis Tito, an American businessman, abroad a Russian Soyuz rocket, even

skeptics have had to regard space tourist like Tito paid $20 million for a trip which included a

weeklong stay on the International Space Station.

It was only a matter of time before the entrepreneurs got on the case, and UK entrepreneur Sir

Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic company have begun offering online bookings for

sub-orbital flights aboard their SpaceShip Two. Tickets start at $ 200 000, but are expected to

come down in price to somewhere around $20 000 – almost a bargain compared to what Tito

paid. But the Virgin flights are only two-and-a half hours, taking passengers just beyond the

100- kilometer altitude that is the internationally defined boundary between earth and space.

Space tourists experience a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the stars before

heading back to earth and gliding in for a landing. A German company has been working on

providing a similar service called Project Enterprise.

What about accommodation? A number of companies have come up with plans to develop

space hotels that can offer more luxurious surroundings than the International Space Station,

which was designed for research purposes, not for tourists. The Space Island Group planned a

ring-shaped spacecraft much like the one in the film 2001: A space Odyssey, and situated

about 640 kilometres from earth. The ring to create a gravitational pull, so that tourists don’t

spend their space holiday floating in the air. Galactic Suite Ltd was at one point targeting 2012

139

as the opening date for its luxury space hotel, with three-night stays going for $4.4 million –

but that includes six weeks of training! And at least one international hotel chain has also

expressed an intention of getting into the space hotel business.

So is there a hope for ordinary folk who have run out of earthly destinations for their holidays

but can’t afford the going price for a seat on SpaceShip Two or a few nights at The Galactic

Suite Space Resort?

Space enthusiasts are optimistic and encourage any would be space tourist to keep saving up

and expect prices to keep coming down as competition gets more vicious. And for those who

can’t dream of putting together the money to meet the price tag, there’s always the prospect,

however unlikely, of getting a job in one of the space hotels. How does that sounds for a year

working abroad?’

1. The writer thinks that business entrepreneurs are crazy. -------

2. Dennis Tito spent a week in space. -------

3. The Virgin Galactic flights stop at a space station but don’t stay overnight. -------

4. The writer thinks that Tito should have bargained better.

5. There is a wide range of luxurious tourist destinations -------

6. The International Space Station doesn’t have very luxurious facilities. -------

7. The Galactic Suite space hotel rotates to create gravity. --------

8. Space is the best place to travel. --------

9. Some people think commercial space travel will be more and more competitive.---

10. The writer recommends getting a job as an air steward or stewardess. ---------

4. Listen to the micro-text, and do the multiple-choice task. 20 points (2 points for each

correct answer)

The government of New Zealand has declared war on countryside pests. It wants to make the

country predator-free by 2050. It has set an ambitious target to eradicate all non-native species

from the country over the next three decades. New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key says

he intends to introduce strategies to cull introduced species, especially predators that threaten

New Zealand’s native birds. He said: ‘’ Rats, possums and stoats kill 25 million of our native

birds every year, and prey on other native species such as lizards. Along with the rest of our

environment, we must do more to protect them. “His government has awarded $ 28 million to

a company that will help implement his plans.” Mr key told reporters: “This is the most

ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the words, but we believe if we all

work together as a country, we can achieve it. “ It will take the combined efforts of the private

and public sectors as well as community groups. Few people in New Zealand want more of

the country’s native birds to become extinct. Since European settles arrived in the mid-

nineteenth century and brought with them rats and other predators, New Zealand has lost a

huge variety of birds. These include the bush wren, the laughing owl and the mysterious

starling. The country’s national bird, the Kiwi, is currently under threat. Only five per cent of

Kiwi chicks survive to adulthood.

1) It has set an ambitious target to eradicate all ______

a. non-natives species

b. non-native species

140

c. not-native species

d. not-natives species

2) Prime Minister John Key says he intends to introduce strategies to ______ species

a. cull introduced

b. skull introduced

c. call introduced

d. cult introduced

3) kill 25 million of our native birds every year, and prey on other native species ______

a. such was lizards

b. such has lizards

c. such as lizards

d. such is lizards

4) Along with the rest of our environment, we must do more ______

a. to protect there

b. too protect them

c. to protects them

d. to protect them

5) awarded $28 million to a company that will help ______

a. implement his plans

b. implant his plans

c. imply meant his plans

d. imply mint his plans

6) we believe if we all work together as a country, we ______

a. can achieve it

b. can achieve its

c. can achieve it's

d. can achieve bit

7) the combined efforts of the private and public sectors as well ______

a. as community groupies

b. as community grapes

c. as community groups

d. as community gropes

8) Few people in New Zealand want more of the country's native birds ______

a. too become extinction

b. two become extinct

c. to become extinction

d. to become extinct

9) New Zealand has lost a huge ______

a. variety of birds

141

b. various of birds

c. varied of birds

d. varies of birds

10) Only five per cent of kiwi chicks survive ______

a. to adulthood

b. to adult's hood

c. to adult hoods

d. to adult's hoods

5. Use the given words to make up sentences. 20 points (2 points for each correct sentence)

1. good news a. few years ago

2. there are seven times more trees on Earth b. Half

3. Until a c. by 12 zeroes

4. a three followed d. Activity

5. 420 trees for every e. effort is needed

6. Human f. and bad news

7. cut in g. be one giant forest

8. Europe used to h. person alive today

9. this figure is considerably i. than we thought

10. much more j. Higher

142

Appendix 5. A Sample lesson

Task 1. (done individually and then discussed by the whole class): Read the text, try to

understand the meanings of the words in bold letters without a dictionary.

Scientists have come up with a smart but simple way to deal with carbon dioxide emissions, by

turning them back into stone. Researchers in Iceland pumped 220 tons of CO2 deep underground

into volcanic rock. It reacted with minerals in the rock and over a relatively short space of time,

transformed into a chalk-like solid substance similar to limestone. The team expressed their surprise

at both the success and the speed of the CO2 conversion. Lead scientist Juerg Matter said: "Of our

220 tons of injected CO2, 95 per cent was converted to limestone in less than two years." He added:

"It was a huge surprise to all the scientists involved in the project, and we thought, 'Wow! This is

really fast'."

The scientists hope their experiment will be adapted on a larger, more industrial scale. It could help

to alleviate the problem of growing CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere and warming the planet.

It could also become a key technique in carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions. Many other

CCs techniques have involved injecting and trapping CO2 underground. However, there was always

the problem of the emissions leaking their way back above ground and into the atmosphere. Dr

Matter was enthusiastic about his team’s experiments. He said: “we need to deal with rising carbon

emissions and this is the ultimate permanent storage – turn them back to stone. ”

Task 2. Work in pairs. Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

Strategy for gap-filling:

18. Find the collocated words which will help you decide what the meaning of the

missing word is.

19. Define which part of speech the missing word is.

20. Try to guess the word to fill in. If you cannot, try to translate the sentence and find

the L1 word that would fit in the gap, then find its translation (or something similar)

in the box.

Leaking; Emission; Trap ; Pump; Transform;

1. New regulations are aimed at reducing vehicle ---------------------.

2. ------------- water uphill is difficult and expensive.

143

3. They’ve ---------------------- the old train station into a science museum.

4. Carbon dioxide causes the Earth’s atmosphere to ---------------- heat.

5. If the boiler is faulty, it may be --------------------------- dangerous gas.

Task 3. Work in pairs. Underline the most suitable word or collocations.

Strategy for selecting the right word:

4. Define what part of speech the underlined words are.

5. Name the words that collocate with them.

6. Now choose the right word, based on both grammar and meaning.

Follow the sample:

Surviving – adjective (which have survived)

Survival – noun (being saved from death)

There are quite few surviving/ survival works of Sophocles.

1. A layer of volcanic/ volcano ash

2. It remains solid/solidity at room temperature.

3. The conversion/ conversely of an office building into a block of flats

4. She had collapsed after being injected/injecting with the anaesthetic.

5. Most research and development projects involve/involvement some element of risk.

Task 4. Work in small groups (3-4 students in a group). Match the words in the box with a

suitable definition (a-h).

Strategy for the matching task:

4. Read all terms, look up the text in task 1, if you have forgotten their meaning.

5. Now read the definitions and try to match as many as you can with the given words.

6. If some are still left, ask your friends for help. Ask them how they did it.

144

Space; chalk; alleviate; capture; storage;

1. a place where a supply of something is kept until it is needed

2. a type of soft white stone

3. to make something less painful, severe, or serious

4. an empty area between things

5. the act of getting control of something

Task 5. Work in small groups. Replace the words in italics in each sentence with a word from

the box.

Strategy for paraphrasing:

4. Define all the words in the box. If you do not know some words, look them up in the

dictionary. Together with the definitions, mark the part of speech.

5. Find the collocating words and say what part of speech should the replacing word be. In

some words the suffixes will help you.

6. Choose the replacing word, read the sentence and see whether its meaning and structure are

OK.

Convert; Ultimate; trapping; enthusiastic;

permanent;

1. Science is a search for the unreal truths about the universe.

2. She suffered non-stop brain damage as a result of the accident.

3. Business leaders gave an eager welcome to the proposal.

4. Both men were shut in inside the burning car.

5. The subsidies are to enable farmers to change into organic production methods.

Task 6. Work in pairs. Match verbs with opposites

Strategy for giving anonyms:

1. First read items 1-6 and try to define or translate them

145

2. Define/translate items 1-f. Keep in mind that they may have more than one meaning. If you

think that no word matched, try to think of a different meaning of the same word. Pay attention

to negative prefixes.

7. Underground --------

8. Similar --------------

9. Relatively -------------

10. Substance ---------

11. Adapted ----------

a. Variety of something

b. inappropriately

c. not containing

d. not become aware of

e. On the surface

Task 7. Whole-class activity. Match the verbs with the prepositions: in; out; up; for; on; to

(x2). If needed, check in the text.

8. Enthusiastic --------

9. Similar --------

10. come up ---------

11. turn ---------

12. deal ---------

Task 8. Whole-class activity. Match the words from ex.7 with their meanings in ex 8. If

problems arise, students who were successful in the task describe their strategies.

g. to think of something such as an idea or a plan

h. to stop doing something and to return to a previous situation or condition to trust someone or something

to do something for you

146

i. to take action to do something, especially to solve a problem to move or happen faster to be all over

a surface or object

j. things that are similar share some qualities but are not exactly the same

k. very interested in something or excited by it

147

Appendix 6: Glossaries

General & Academic Glossary

Abundant - /əˈbʌndənt/

-existing or available in large quantities

- უხვი, სავსე, ბარაქიანი, დოვლათიანი

Access - /ˈækses/

- the right or opportunity to have or use something that will bring you benefits

- ხელმისაწვდომობა, ნებართვის/უფლების ქონა

Adjust - /əˈdʒʌst/

- to change something slightly in order to make it better, more accurate, or more effective

- შეგუება, შეწყობა, მორგება;

Affect - /əˈfekt/

- to change or influence something. If something affects something else, it has an effect on it

- ზემოქმედება; გავლენის მოხდენა

Ancestor - /ˈænsestə(r)/

- an earlier form from which something modern has developed;

- პირველადი საწყისი შემთხვევა, წინაპარი, წინა მესაკუთრე.

Arrangement - /əˈreɪndʒmənt/

- a way of organizing things so that problems are solved or avoided

- წესრიგში მოყვანა, მოწესრიგება; მომზადება, მოგვარება

Available - /əˈveɪləb(ə)l/

- able to be obtained, taken, or used

- ხელმისავდომი, განკარგულებაში მყოფი

Batch - /bætʃ/

- a quantity of a substanceneeded or produced at one time

- სერია; პარტია

Benefit - /ˈbenɪfɪt/

- an advantage you get from a situation

- სარგებლობა, კეთილდღეობა; სარგებლობის მოტანა

Content - /kənˈtent/

- the things that are inside something such as a box, bottle, building, or room

- შემცველობა, მოცულობა, ტევადობა

Daily - /ˈdeɪli/

- done or happening every day

- ყოველდღიური, სადღეღამისო;

Blank - /blæŋk/

148

not containing any sound, pictures, or information; a paper to be filled in

- ცარიელი;გამოტოვებული ადგილი, შეუვსებელი; ბლანკი

Calf: Young (up to yearling or sexual maturity) animal of the bovine species.

- ხბო

Cart - /kɑː(r)t/

- a vehicle with two or four wheels and no roof that is pulled by a horse and is used for carrying things;

- ორთვალა; ურიკა

Cause - /kɔːz/

- an event, thing, or person that makes something happen

- მიზეზი, საფუძველი, მოტივი

Challenge - /ˈtʃæləndʒ/

- something that needs a lot of skill, energy, and determination to deal with or achieve, especially something

you have never done before and will enjoy doing;

- გამოწვევა; Comprehensive - /ˌkɒmprɪˈhensɪv/

- including many details or aspects of something;

- ყოველმხრივი, საყოველთაო

Conduct - /kənˈdʌkt/

to do something in an organized way

ქმედება, საქციელი; გაძღოლა, ჩატარება, განხორციელება

Counteract - /ˌkaʊntərˈækt/

- to reduce the negative effect of something by doing something that has an opposite effect

- წინააღმდეგობის გაწევა, შეფერხება, ნეიტრალიზება;

Current - /ˈkʌrənt/

happening or existing now

მიმდინარე

Desirable - /dɪˈzaɪrəb(ə)l/

- used for saying that you would like something to happen;

- სასურველი

Destroyed - /dɪˈstrɔɪd/

- damaged so severely that it no longer exists or can never return to its normal state

- დანგრეული, დაზიანებული

Device - /dɪˈvaɪs/

- a machine or piece of equipment that does a particular thing;

- საშუალება ; დანადგარი , აპარატი, მოწყობილობა

Downtime - time when you can relax and not work

149

- უმოქმედობა

Essential - /ɪˈsenʃ(ə)l/

- completely necessary

- განუყრელი, აუცილებელ, ძირითადი, მნიშვნელოვანი, მთავარი

Exception - /ləʊˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/

- someone or something that is different in some way from other people or things and so cannot be included in

a general statement

- გამონაკლისი

Experience - /ɪkˈspɪəriəns/

- knowledge and skill that is gained through time spent doing a job or activity

- გამოცდილება

Extreme - /ɪkˈstriːm/

Very great in degree

უკიდურესი

Facilities - /fəˈsɪləti/

- something such as a room or piece of equipment that is provided at a place for people to use;

- შესაძლებლობანი; კეთილმოწყობილობა Feature - /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/

- an important part or aspect of something

- განსაკუთრებულობა, სახასიათო ნიშანი; ნიშანი, თვისება;

Field - /fiːld/

- an area of land used for keeping animals or growing food ; a sphere of activities

- მინდორი; საქმიანობის სფერო, არე; დარგი.

Fix - /fɪks/

To fasten something somewhere so that it cannot move; repair

გამაგრება, დამაგრება; ჩანერგვა, შეტანა, გარემონტება

Gain - /ɡeɪn/

- to get or achieve something, usually as a result of a lot of effort

- გაზრდა, მომატება, ნამატი; მიღწევა

Grade - /ɡreɪd/

- a level of quality or importance

- ხარისხი, დონე; რანგი

Improper - /ɪmˈprɒpə(r)/

Not suitable or right according to accepted standards of social or professional behaviour

არასწორი, მცდარი; უადგილო, შეუფერებელი, შეუსაბამო

150

Install - /ɪnˈstɔːl/

- to put a piece of equipment somewhere and make it ready for use

- მოთავსება, მოწყობა; დამონტაჟება

Issue - /ˈɪʃuː/

- a subject that people discuss or argue about, especially related to society, politics, etc.

- საკითხი დღის წესრიგში

Location - /ləʊˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/

- The place or position where someone or something is or where something happens

- ადგილმდებარეობა;

Loose - /luːs/

- Not forming a firm mass

- თავისუფალი; მოშვებული, გახსნილი; ფართო, განიერი; ფხვიერი, ფაშარი (ნიადაგი);

Maintain - /meɪnˈteɪn/

- to make something stay the same

- შენახვა, დაცვა, მომსახურება, შენარჩუნება

Mature - /məˈtʃʊə(r)/

- behaving in the sensible way that you would expect an adult to behave. This

is usually said about children and young people

- დამწიფება . მწიფე , განვითარებული , მომწიფებული

Meantime - /ˈmiːnˌtaɪm/

- the time between one occurrence and another; an interval

- ამასაობაში, ამ დროის განმავლობაში.

Obvious - /ˈɒbviəs/

- clear to almost anyone

- აშკარა, ცხადი, ნათელი

Package - /ˈpækɪdʒ/

- an object or set of objects wrapped in a box or in paper and sent or given to someone

- პარკი; პაკეტი, შეფუთვა, კონტეინერი, Particle - /ˈpɑː(r)tɪk(ə)l/

- an extremely small piece or amount of something

- ნაწილაკი, წილაკი;

Passage - /ˈpæsɪdʒ/

- a long narrow area with walls on each side that leads from one room or place to another

- გასავლელი, გასავალი, არაქვეითად გასავლელი;

Per - /pɜː(r)/

used for stating the rate or cost for each unit of time, quantity, distance, etc.

ით, -თ, მეშვეობით, გავლით

Practice - /ˈpræktɪs/

- occasions when you do something in order to become better at it, or the time that you spend doing this;

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- ვარჯიში, წვრთნა, ტრენირება, პრაქტიკის მიღება; გამოყენება

Prevent - /prɪˈvent/

- To stop something from happening

- არიდება, თავიდან აცილება, გაფრთხილება; ხელის შეშლა

Provide - /prəˈvaɪd/

- to give someone something that they want or need

- უზრუნველყოფა, მომარაგება;

Pulling - /pʊl/

- moving your body or part of your body using effort or force;

- დაჭიმულობა ; დაძაბულობა, მოქაჩვა

Purchase - /ˈpɜː(r)tʃəs/

- to buy something;

- ყიდვა; ნაყიდი, ნავაჭრი;

Qualification - /ˌkwɒlɪfɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/

- something such as a degree or a diploma that you get when you successfully complete a course ofstudy

- კვალიფიკაცია, ვარგისობა, ხარისხი

Rating - /ˈreɪtɪŋ/

- a measurement of how good or popular someone or something is;

- შეფასება; ღირებულების დადგენა; რეიტინგი

Requirement - /rɪˈkwaɪə(r)mənt/

something that a rule, law, contract, etc. states what you must do

მოთხოვნა, საჭიროება; აუცილებელი პირობა

Rigorous - /ˈrɪɡərəs/

- thorough and careful

- მკაცრი, სასტიკი; ზუსტი, სწორი;

Property - /ˈprɒpə(r)ti/

- things, especially valuable things, that are owned by someone; feature

- საკუთრება, ქონება; თვისება, ხარისხი

Shortcoming - /ˈʃɔː(r)tˌkʌmɪŋ/

- a fault or problem that makes someone or something less effective;

- ნაკლი, ნაკლულოვანება, დეფექტი, ხარვეზი Smooth - /smuːð/

- completely even with no rough areas or lumps;

- სწორი, გლუვი,

Space - /speɪs/

an empty or available area

სივრცე; განფენილობა, სიგრძე, მანძილი; უშენი ადგილი;

Static - /ˈstætɪk/

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- if something is static, it does not move or change

- სტატიკური, უძრავი

Structure - /ˈstrʌktʃə(r)/

- the way in which the parts of something are organized or arranged into a whole

- 1) სტრუქტურა; მოწყობა; 2) შენობა, ნაგებობა, ნაშენი.

Substance - /ˈsʌbstəns/

- a particular type of liquid, solid, or gas; matter

- სუბსტანცია, მასალა Sufficient - /səˈfɪʃ(ə)nt/

- as much as is needed

- საკმარისი რაოდენობა;

Supply - /səˈplaɪ/

- an amount or quantity of something that is available to use

- მიწოდება ; მომარაგება

Support - /səˈpɔː(r)t/

- to approve of an idea or of a person or organization and help them to be successful

- წაშველება, მხარის დაჭერა, მხარში ამოდგომა, დახმარება; დასაყრდნობი, საბრჯენი; ბურჯი

Suspect - /səˈspekt/

- to doubt that something is true, especially something good

- ეჭვის ქონა; დაეჭვება, ეჭვის შეტანა, ეჭვის შეპარება;

Survive - /sə(r)ˈvaɪv/

- to stay alive despite an injury, illness, war, etc.

- დარჩე ცოცხალი;არსებობის გაგრძელება;გადატანა.

Tip - /tɪp/

- a small amount of money that you give to someone in addition to what you owe for a service; recommendation

- მომსახურებისათვის ნაჩუქარი ფული, ფეხის ქირა; რჩევა, რეკომენდაცია

Trait - /treɪt/

- a particular quality in someone’s character;

- თვისება

Value - /ˈvæljuː/

- the amount that something is worth, measured, especially in money

- ფასეულობა; ღირებულება, ფასი; დიდი მნიშვნელობა, მნიშვნელობა;

Variety - /vəˈraɪəti/

the quality or state of being different or diverse; the absence of uniformity or monotony

სხვადასხვაობა, სხვადასხვაგვარობა, ნაირნაირობა,მრავალფეროვნება

Willing - /ˈwɪlɪŋ/

- if you are willing to do something, you do it when someone asks you, sometimes when you do not want to

- მზა, მიდრეკილი, მიდრეკილების მქონე, თანახმა

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Narrow Specialty Glossary

1. Acid soil: A soil with an acid reaction, a pH less than 7.0.

- მჟავე ნიადაგი, მიწა

2. Alfalfa: A valuable leguminous crop for forage or hay used in livestock.

- ლუცერნა

3. Apiary: Colonies of bees in hives and other beekeeping equipment for the production of honey.

- საფუტკრე

4. Artificial insemination: The mechanical injection of male semen into the womb of the female with a special

syringe-like apparatus. The process begins with the collection of semen from the male. This method is used

extensively in dairy husbandry.

- ხელოვნური განაყოფიერება

5. Bloating: Abnormal swelling of the abdomen of livestock, caused by excessive gas

formation which can result in death.

- შებერილობა

6. Boar: A breeding male hog, any age.

- ბურვაკი, ღორი

7. Breed: A group of animals descended from common ancestry and possessing certain inherited characteristics

which distinguish it from any other group. When matings within the breed are made, these characteristics are

transmitted to the offspring in a uniform and predictable manner.

- ჯიში; მოყვანა

8. Bred: If animals breed, they become the parents of young animals;

- მოშენება, გამოყვანა, მოყვანა, გაზრდა, გამრავლება; 9. Bulb – a rounded underground storage organ present in some plants, notably those of the lily family,

consisting of a short stem surrounded by fleshy scale leaves or leaf bases, lying dormant over winter.

-ბოლქვი

10. Bundle - /ˈbʌnd(ə)l/

- a group of things that have been tied together, especially so that you can carry them easily;

- პარკი, დასტა, შეკვრა, კონა, ნასკვი, კვანძი,

11. Drainage: The removal of excess surface water or excess water from within the soil by means of surface or

sub-surface drains.

- დრენაჟი

12. Erosion: The wearing away of the land surface, usually by running water or wind.

- ეროზია, გაფითვა

13. Fertilization: The union of pollen with an egg to form an embryo.

- განაყოფიერება

14. Fertilizer: a chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility.

- სასუქი

15. Forage: Vegetable matter, fresh or preserved, which is gathered and fed to animals as roughage (e.g., alfalfa

hay, corn silage, or other hay crops).

- ფურაჟი

16. Grain - /ɡreɪn/

- the seeds from crops such as wheat, rice, or barley that are used for food - მარცვალი, პურის მარცვალი, ბურღულეული.

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17. Germination - /ˌdʒɜː(r)mɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/

- to develop from a seed and begin to grow into a plant, or to make a seed develp in this way

- ამოსვლა, აღმოცენება, გაღივება; განვითარება, ზრდა. 18. Green Manure: Any crop or plant grown and plowed under to improve the soil, by addition of

organic matter and the subsequent release of plant nutrients, especially nitrogen.

- ნაკელი, სასუქი, მწვანე მასა

19. Hog - /hɒɡ/

- a male pig whose sex organs have been removed;

- ღორი; ნერბი

20. Humus: The well decomposed, relatively stable portion of the organic matter in a soil.

- ჰუმუსი, შავი მიწა

21. Hydroponics: Growing of plants in water containing the essential growth elements. This process is being

used in “glass” houses for intensive “off-season” production of vegetables.

- ჰიდროპონიკა; ხსნარებზე მცენარეების მოყვანა სათბურებში

22. Incubation: A process of holding eggs under controlled conditions of heat and moisture permitting the fertile

eggs to hatch. Chicks require 21 days and turkeys 28 days to hatch.

- ინკუბაცია, ამოჩეკვა

23. Layer: A female chicken producing eggs regularly. A good layer should produce between 19 and 20 dozen

eggs in 12 months.

- კვერცხის მდებელი ქათამი

24. Livestock: Any domestic animal produced or kept primarily for farm, ranch, or market purposes, including

beef and dairy cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, and horses.

- საქონელი, პირუტყვი

25. Manure: Generally, the refuse from stables and barnyards including both animal excreta and straw or other

litter.

- ნაკელი, მიწის ნაკელით გაპატივება

26. Marginal Land: Land almost too unproductive to be farmed profitably.

- მცირენაყოფიერი მიწა

27. Mating - /ˈmeɪtɪŋ/

- if one animal mates with another, or if two animals mate, it’s an act of reproduction;

- დაწყვილება

28. Nutrient: A chemical element or compound that is essential for normal body metabolism, growth and

production. Includes: carbohydrates fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water.

- მკვებავი ნივთიერება

29. Offspring - /ˈɒfˌsprɪŋ/ - the baby or babies of an animal;

- შთამომავლობა, შთამომავალი; ნაყოფი 30. Pasture - /ˈpɑːstʃə(r)/

-land covered with grass where sheep, cows, etc. are kept;

- საბალახო, საძოვარი; . 31. Pest: Any organism injuring plants or plant products.

- პარაზიტი, მავნებელი

32. pH: A scale of measurement by which the acidity or alkalinity of soil or water is rated. A pH of 6 to 7.5 is

considered “ideal” for most agricultural crops. Each plant (specie-type), however, has its own “ideal” pH range.

- მიწის მჟავიანობა

33. Plow - /plaʊ/

- to turn over the soil before putting seeds into it using a plough;

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- ხვნა 34. Pollen: The male germ cells. Pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma.

- ყვავილის მტვერი

35. Pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma.

- დამტვერება

36. Pomology: the science or study of growing fruit.

- მეხილეობა

37. Poult: A young turkey

- ინდაურის ჭუკი

38. Poultry: Domestic birds raised for eggs and meat.

- შინაური ფრინველები

39. Raise animals - /reɪz/

- to take care of baby animals while they are growing up

- გაზრდა, მოყვანა,

40. Row - /rəʊ/

- a series of plants or things arranged in a straightline

- რიგი, მწკრივი; 41. Seed: the unit of reproduction of a flowering plant, capable of developing into another such plant.

- თესლი

42. Silage: Prepared by chopping green forage (grass, legumes, field corn, etc.) Into an airtight chamber, where it is

compressed to exclude air and undergoes and acid fermentation that retards spoilage. Contains about 65 percent

moisture; 3 lbs. Of silage is equal to 1 lb. Of hay nutritionally

i. სილოსი

43. Slaughterhouse: A place where animals marketed for meat arc killed humanely.

- სასაკლაო

44. Soak - /səʊk/

- to put something into a liquid and leave it there for a period of time

- შესრუტვა, შეწოვა, გაჯდომა, გაჟღენთა

45. Sprout - /spraʊt/

- if a leaf or other part of a plant is sprouting, it is beginning to grow on the plant;

- ღივი, ყლორტი; 46. Stripped - /strɪpt/

- used for describing wood that has been cleaned by removing a layer of something, for example, paint,

from its surface

- გაშიშვლებული; ქერქ-მოხდილი

47. Tame - /teɪm/

- a tame animal has been trained to stay calm when people are near it, because it is used to being with

them;

- მოშინაურებული, მოთვინიერებული; 48. Valley - /ˈvæli/

- a low area of land between mountains or hills, usually with a river flowing through it;

- ხეობა, ბარი, ველი 49. Wean - /wiːn/

- calf, lamb or piglet up to one year; to cause a baby or young animal to stop feeding on its mother's milk and to

start eating other food, especially solid food, instead

- ხბო, ბატკანი ან გოჭი წლამდე ასაკის; ცხოველის დედის რძიდან სხვა საკვებზე გადაყვანა

50. Well - /wel/

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- a deep hole that is dug in the ground to provide a supply ofwater

- ჭა; წყალსატევი

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